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LITCHFIELD -- A Litchfield Superior Court jury awarded a Lakeville woman whose minivan was struck by a tractor trailer nearly $2 million in damages. Kelly Allison, a 28-year-old librarian who suffered a brain injury and permanent damage to her leg, was awarded $1,780,000 in a unanimous verdict on Sept. 7. The lawsuit was filed against a New York trucking firm and the State of Connecticut by Allison’s attorneys, John Fitzpatrick, of Hartford, and Kevin Nelligan, of North Canaan, in November 2002. Advertisement Fitzpatrick said he felt the jurors gave his client careful consideration. "The jury was impressed by Ms. Allison," he said. "She has been through a lot, but she is an incredibly strong person." "It was satisfying for Kelly that six people heard her story of what she has been through since the accident and take it to heart," Nelligan said. The jurors decided after two days of deliberation that all three drivers were negligent on the afternoon of Feb. 26, 2001. A Peterbilt tractor trailer truck driving west on Route 44 was forced to cross the double line to avoid hitting a state plow truck parked on the side of the road, according to court documents. The tractor trailer struck Allison’s minivan as she approached from the opposite direction. The jury assigned the most liability --- 71 percent or $1,420,000 --- to the state Department of Transportation after its driver, James M. Zucco, 45, of Canaan, negligently parked the plow truck partially in the road and in a location with restricted visibility, according to court documents. Michael Manetta, 37, of Red Hook, N.Y., was on his way home after dropping off a load of lumber in South Windsor for Richard Gray Trucking of Red Hook, N.Y. The company’s portion of the damages is $360,000, according to the verdict. The defendants have 30 days to appeal the jury decision. Attorneys for the defendants could not be reached for comment. In the $2 million verdict the jury found Allison comparatively negligent for failing to avoid the crash and assigned her 11 percent of the blame, reducing her award by $220,000, the jury said. State police found no indication that speed, drugs or alcohol played a role in the crash, according to a police report. Allison was trapped in the Chevrolet minivan and airlifted to Hartford Hospital for treatment of a shattered leg and hip, and traumatic brain injury. She was treated in a New Britain rehabilitation center before relocating to North Carolina where she was cared for by her parents and received physical therapy. Fitzpatrick said she suffers from short-term memory loss, which affects problem-solving ability, and a lack of strength in her leg. She was once able to work three jobs, but now she tires easily at her part-time library position, walks with a limp, and is unable to run, the plaintiff’s attorneys said. Allison nearly lost the case in September 2003 when the state won a motion to dismiss based on a 40-year-old court ruling in Rivera v. Fox prohibiting claims against the state when its vehicles are involved. "John (Fitzpatrick) could have folded the tent and gone home, but he didn’t," Nelligan said. "He kept at it when a lot of attorneys would have packed it in." Fitzpatrick and Nelligan appealed the trial court decision and won. When the state attempted to reverse the appellate court decision, the state Supreme Court denied the state’s request to hear the matter, and the trial was put on the Litchfield Superior Court docket.
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