New Jersey Verdicts

Plaintiff(s):

Mark Mazzone (Male, 48 Years), 

Barbara Mazzone (Female, 40 Years)

Plaintiff Attorney(s):

Patrick T. D’Arcy;
D’Arcy Johnson Day, P.C.;
Egg Harbor Township,
NJ,
for
Mark Mazzone, Barbara Mazzone ■ Andrew J. D’Arcy;
D’Arcy Johnson Day;
Egg Harbor Township,
NJ,
for
Mark Mazzone, Barbara Mazzone ■ Steven K. Johnson;
D’Arcy Johnson Day, P.C.;
Egg Harbor Township,
NJ,
for
Mark Mazzone, Barbara Mazzone ■ Christopher P. Vanderveer;
D’Arcy Johnson Day;
Egg Harbor Township,
NJ,
for
Mark Mazzone, Barbara Mazzone

Defendant(s):

James Sealy Jr., 

County of Camden, 

Scott E. Pierson, 

Sharon Czyzewski, 

Waterford Township, 

State of New Jersey, 

Verizon New Jersey Inc., 

Atlantic County Electric Company, 

Ivystone Farms Civic Association

Defense Attorney(s):

Gerald J. Corcoran;
Montgomery McCracken Walker & Rhoads, LLP;
Linwood,
NJ,
for
Atlantic County Electric Company ■ James R. Birchmeier;
Powell, Birchmeier & Powell;
Tuckahoe,
NJ,
for
Waterford Township ■ Robert R. Nicodemo III;
Nicodemo & Connell;
Haddonfield,
NJ,
for
Sharon Czyzewski ■ Howard L. Goldberg;
Office of Camden County Counsel;
Camden,
NJ,
for
County of Camden ■ Kira Feeny Spaman;
Office of Camden County Counsel;
Camden,
NJ,
for
County of Camden ■ Kathleen M. Bartus;
Office of the Attorney General of New Jersey;
Trenton,
NJ,
for
State of New Jersey ■ John V. Petrycki;
Montgomery McCracken Walker & Rhoads, LLP;
Cherry Hill,
NJ,
for
Verizon New Jersey Inc.

Insurer(s):

IFA Insurance Co. for Sharon Czyzewski
Camden County Joint Municipal Joint Insurance Fund Waterford Township

On Aug. 29, 2008, plaintiff Mark Mazzone, 48, a bowling-lane mechanic and part-time Atlantic City casino dealer, was riding a motorcycle on Route 30 in Waterford Township when he approached an intersection with Briarcliff Road on his right side. Briarcliff Road was semi-private, leading out of a residential community. At the intersection with Route 30 there was a traffic island that separated the lanes of Briarcliff Road. On the portion of the traffic island nearest Route 30 there was a vertical utility pole and an angled bracing pole. The bracing pole had become overgrown with ivy and other vegetation which allegedly obstructed the view of vehicles on Route 30 from seeing vehicles waiting to emerge from Briarcliff Road on the far right lane, and for vehicles in the right lane of Briarcliff Road from seeing traffic traveling on Route 30 approaching the intersection. As Mazzone entered the intersection, a car driven by Sharon Czyzewski pulled out in front of him from Briarcliff Road, resulting in a collision, in which Mazzone’s motorcycle broadsided the left side of Czyzewski’s car. Mazzone remained in a coma for a month-and-a-half following the accident and suffered numerous bodily injuries. Mazzone sued Czyzewski for negligent operation of her vehicle, alleging she failed to yield the right-of-way before emerging on the highway from the side street. Mazzone included as defendants Waterford Township, the Ivystone Farms Civic Association, and Atlantic County Electric Co. as defendants, and alleged negligence attributable to them, individually and collectively, for a failure to properly maintain the growth of vegetation on the utility pole. The traffic island was owned by Waterford Township but because of easements and planning-board approvals, maintenance was the responsibility of the Ivystone Farms Civic Association. It was contended that Waterford Township had a non-delegable duty as owner of the traffic island to maintain it so as not to become a dangerous condition. Mazzone’s counsel also claimed that Atlantic County Electric Co.’s failure to trim the ivy growth on its utility poles was in violation of its own Vegetation Management Plan. Also joined, on similar theories of liability, were the County of Camden, the State of New Jersey, and Verizon New Jersey Inc., but all three were dismissed early in the litigation, when it was established that these entities had no ownership interest or maintenance responsibility for the traffic island. Mazzone’s wife, Barbara, was named as a plaintiff before it was determined that the couple had married after the accident. She was voluntarily dismissed from the case. Czyzewski stated she did not see the Mazzone vehicle approaching because her view of approaching traffic was obscured by the ivy and other vegetation growing on the utility poles. She presented photographs taken immediately after the accident to support her contention. An accident reconstruction expert engaged by the Atlantic County Electric Co. rendered a report and testified that the vegetation on the poles did not, in this particular circumstance, obscure either drivers’ visibility and did not, therefore, proximately contribute to the cause of the accident. Waterford Township invoked Title 59 immunities and argued that the alleged dangerous condition on its property did not surpass the higher liability standards of Title 59. Waterford Township also claimed the alleged dangerous condition was not a proximate cause of the accident, nor was it foreseeable that such a condition could result in the type of accident that occurred. The Ivystone Farms Civic Association did not file an answer and defaulted.

Mazzone was taken to a trauma center where he was in a coma for six weeks. After he regained consciousness, he remained hospitalized and underwent surgery with the implantation of hardware in his right shoulder, right (dominant) wrist, and two parts of his pelvis. There was also a cervical spine fracture, and a comminuted fracture in the right foot requiring closed reduction, complicated by the development of reflex sympathetic dystrophy (RSD). Mazzone was also treated for lumbar disc herniations and underwent decompression surgery at L3-4 and L4-5. He incurred an open abdominal wound as a result of the accident that caused permanent abdominal muscle retraction. Because of Mazzone’s lengthy lapse into a coma he is left with residual cognitive impairments, classified as minor and mostly of a memory and attention deficit nature. Mazzone received physical therapy and cognitive therapy and will continue to do so for indefinitely. The defense did not dispute Mazzone’s injuries, and called no medical defense witnesses.

Following an eight-day trial, the jury found that the defendants’ negligence was the proximate cause of Mazzone’s injuries and allocated liability among the defendants by finding 14 percent liability on the part of driver Czyzewski; 16 percent liability on the part of the defaulting Civic Association; 15 percent liability on the part of Atlantic County Electric Co. (self-insured); and 55 percent liability on the part of traffic-island owner Waterford Township. The jury returned a total damage award of $9,682,567.43, consisting of $4,750,000 for pain and suffering, $180326.72 for past wage loss, $470,747.76 for future wage loss, $3,485,909.83 for past medical expenses, and $795,583.12 for future medical expenses. Prior to trial, Czyzewski had deposited her $125,000 insurance policy into court.

Judge:

Robert G. Millenky

Trial Length:

8
 days

Trial Deliberations:

1.5
 days

Jury Vote:

8-0 as to all issues except for a 7-1 vote in plaintiffs’ favor as to the following three questions that applied to the property owner Waterford Township: dangerous condition, that the dangerous condition was a proximate cause of the accident, and foreseeability of such an accident from such a condition.

This report is based on information that was provided by plaintiffs’ counsel and defense counsel for Verizon New Jersey Inc. Counsel for the other defendants declined to contribute.