I was put on a jury for a MVA. The woman claimed back pain that was prohibiting her from her previous life style. The people who hit her car did not deny that they had caused the accident, but did not believe that her ability to lead her life had been impaired.
Her lawyer introduced doctor's etc. However, under oath, she admitted that she did not attend physical therapy as instructed by her doctor. Also, she was somewhat vague as to her discomfort. She just cited back pain. It was also revealed that she had been very athletic prior to having children and no one else in the car had complained of similar long term issues. Initially, we were considering giving her $10,000 - $20,000 for her initial physical discomfort. After sleeping on it for a night, most of realized that we were just offering money to salve our conscious. We decided to reward her $0. Our feeling was that she was at fault for not attending physical therapy as advised by her doctors. Also, she could have just as easily injured herself in her athletic pursuits or by just picking up her children. She could not prove that the accident was the cause of any alleged chronic back pain.
We also noticed that she dressed in clothing that complimented in her coloring on 2 days. However, on the day she took the stand, she wore color that made her look very washed out and wan.
