Jury awards $350K to woman injured while making left turn on red

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A woman who was broadsided in a 2012 auto accident that caused her to suffer an injured shoulder and a subsequent seizure is entitled to collect $350,000 from the negligent driver, a Charleston County jury decided on May 6.

According to the complaint, Pamela Ryals was attempting to make a left turn while traveling northbound on U.S. Route 17 in Charleston when a Ford Expedition being driven by Harold White plowed into the unoccupied passenger side of her Chevrolet Tahoe.

One of Ryals’ attorneys, Roy Willey IV of the Anastopoulo Law Firm in Charleston, said Ryals, then 51, pulled into the intersection on a green arrow and was the third car in line. By her own testimony, Willey said, the light had turned red by the time she completed her turn.

“The question for jury was whether White’s light was red or green,” Willey said. “Ryals contended she had right to clear the intersection. The defense contended she had to yield, as she was making a left turn across the intersection.”

Willey said Ryals was admitted to the Medical University of South Carolina after the wreck. She suffered ligament issues with her shoulder and experienced her first seizure just over three months after the crash.

White’s attorneys argued that Ryals, due to her own negligence, should have either been barred from recovery or had her award reduced proportionately. Willey said the defense also argued that Ryals’ seizures were pre-existing.

VERDICT REPORT – PERSONAL INJURY (AUTO ACCIDENT)

Amount: $350,000

Injuries alleged: Shoulder injury and seizur

Case name: Pamela Ryals v. Harold White

Court: Charleston County Circuit Court

Case number: 2013-CP-10-6229

Date of settlement: May 6

Attorneys for plaintiff: Roy Willey IV, Eric Poulin and Katie Wilensky of the Anastopoulo Law Firm in Charleston

Attorneys for defendant: Andrew Halio of Halio & Halio, and Michael Ferri of Grimball & Cabaniss, both in Charleston

Follow Heath Hamacher on Twitter @SCLWHamacher