Judith
McGuinness, 74, was essentially blind in her left eye when
her car struck and killed 3-year-old Joann Torres in 1997.
WILKES-BARRE - A doctor providing expert testimony at the
trial of a wrongful death and survival lawsuit concluded that
a Drums woman was driving with severely impaired vision when
her car struck and killed a 3-year-old girl in Hazleton on
Dec. 16, 1997.
The
victim, Joann Torres, was struck while crossing North Church
Street at Fern Street between 5:30 and 6 p.m. with her mother,
Maruja Arce of 52 N. Laurel St., three siblings and an adult
cousin, Luis Ruiz.
The
mother said she had hold of Joann by one hand and her two-year-old
daughter, Christine, by the other hand.
Judith
McGuinness, 74, of 220 Four Seasons Drive, Beech Mountain
Lakes, was essentially blind in her left eye from a previous
childhood injury, according to Dauphin County Medical Examiner
Dr. Gary Ross. Ross,
a forensic and neurological pathologist, said McGuinness was
diagnosed with mild cataracts of both eyes in 1996, was glaucoma
suspect and suffered from blurred vision at the time.
"My
position is, had she seen these people, we wouldn't be here
today. That's the bottom line," Ross stated Thursday. Ross
said he based his opinion on examination records from her
eye doctor procured by defense lawyers. He said the records
also indicate she suffers from eye vascular disease, is farsighted
and has trouble wearing bifocals.
"Basically,
she has one eye she can use," Ross stated. "In her deposition,
she said she never saw the six people along the road" or florescent
parts of shoes or reflective material on a jacket. He said
she was looking at the traffic light ahead of her not having
sufficient peripheral vision to see to the side. Ross
said she didn't see them until the last second and not in
time to execute an evasive maneuver to avoid hitting the girl
who died from multiple traumatic injuries to the head and
body.
Attorney
Thomas Comerford, representing McGuinness through her insurance
company, said she "heard a thud to the passenger side of the
vehicle."
Ross
is also recognized as an expert in bio-mechanics, the understanding
of forces involved in traffic accidents. Basing
his opinion on all medical records, the police report, depositions
and his expertise, Ross concluded the girl was hit by the
car's right front bumper and "thrown forward, not run over
as the defense contends." He
said, "You won't get injuries like this from bouncing off
the side of a car."
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The
plaintiffs attorney, Robert Powell, told jurors in his opening
statement the little girl "got knocked out of her shoes" by
the impact after taking one step off the curb. He said the family
was headed for a nearby park to view a lighted Christmas tree
there.
"Our
burden is to prove it is negligence to drive at night when you
can't see," Powell said. Powell
pointed to conflicting statements made by McGuinness. At the
hospital, he claimed she stated she saw something run out in
front of her car and that someone ran into her car. In a police
interview and her deposition, Powell said she stated everything
was a blur and that she never saw the child at all.
"My
right eye is very good. My left eye is not very swift," Powell
quoted McGuinness as saying. Powell said one child was wearing
a white coat. He
charged McGuinness "blew off eye doctor appointments since 1991"
and had a responsibility to use ordinary care, such as arranging
for someone to drive her to the grocery store or hospital to
visit her husband, who was a patient at the time.
Powell
said the young mother came here from Puerto Rico. "Every year,
she came to the United States to get medical treatment for her
daughter," Powell said. "She came with her grandmother to New
York City, where Joann was born." He said she was invited to
Hazleton "to help a friend she sees occasionally" and decided
to move here and be self-sufficient in an area where her children
could get a good education and be away from the crime of the
big city.
McGuinness
filed a counterclaim to the lawsuit, contending the mother was
at fault. Powell said McGuinness denied that she struck Joann
and all allegations of negligence. He said the defendant sued
Arce "to scare her, to shift responsibility. Lets blame the
mother. That's cruel."
Arce
is seeking damages for negligence and the pain and suffering
of having her child "torn out of her bare hand and dragged down
the street." Additional
counts allege emotional distress suffered by her daughter, Amanda,
7, who was on the sidewalk and saw the whole thing, and Christine,
who Powell claimed was in a "zone of danger when her little
sister was run over."
Damages
for the loss of the decedent's earning capacity are also sought.
Powell said emotional distress claims were admitted by the defense.
He asked the jury to award a full cup of justice "for a mother
from Puerto Rico who came here to raise her children" and show
that "justice will be crystal clear, not blurred."
Testimony
will resume today before Judge Michael Conahan and a jury of
six men and six women with two women serving as alternate jurors.
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