Unreported / Non-Citable
Background
In April 2023, an eighteen-wheeler collided with a car driven by Ruben Narro. Narro began experiencing debilitating back pain soon after the crash and ultimately underwent major surgery.
Narro sued truck driver Sukhwinder Singh and S. Chahal Trucking, Incorporated. Singh conceded that his negligence caused the collision but disputed the extent of Narro’s injuries and whether the collision caused them. A jury found for Narro and awarded him nearly $1.2 million in damages, which Singh challenged on appeal.
The Court’s Holding
The Fifth Circuit affirmed the judgment in an unpublished per curiam opinion. After reviewing the parties’ briefs and the record, the panel concluded that it could find no reversible error.
The court therefore declined Singh’s request to set aside the jury’s verdict, leaving the nearly $1.2 million damages award intact.
Key Takeaways
- A defendant’s concession of negligence does not resolve disputed questions about the extent and causation of the plaintiff’s injuries.
- The jury accepted Narro’s position on the contested injury and causation issues and awarded nearly $1.2 million.
- The Fifth Circuit found no reversible error and affirmed without extended analysis in an unpublished per curiam opinion.
Why It Matters
The decision leaves undisturbed a substantial personal-injury verdict arising from a commercial-truck collision. It also illustrates the difficulty of overturning a jury’s resolution of contested injury and causation issues when the appellate court identifies no reversible error in the record.