Opinion
CV146047247
04-05-2017
Paul Vitelli v. Mad Crown Street Holdings, LLC et al
UNPUBLISHED OPINION
MEMORANDUM OF DECISION
James W. Abrams, Judge.
The action stems from personal injuries suffered by the plaintiff Paul Vitelli as the result of a fall down stairs at premises controlled by the defendants Mad Crown Street Holdings and Assunta Delmonaco on March 16, 2014. Mad Crown was defaulted for failure to appear on November 14, 2016 and Assunta Delmonaco was defaulted for failure to appear on November 30, 2016.
A Hearing in Damages was held on April 3, 2017 at which the plaintiff appeared and presented testimony and documentary evidence.
1. Economic Damages
The uncontroverted evidence presented during the Hearing in Damages indicates that Mr. Vitelli incurred $52, 554.91 in medical expenses as a result of the incident and is hereby awarded that amount.
2. Non-Economic Damages
The court must also consider whether to award the plaintiff non-economic damages as a result of the incident, including pain and suffering, impairment of his ability to enjoy life's activities, and emotional distress. The evidence demonstrated that the incident resulted in plaintiff suffering the following: severe head trauma, fractures to his skull, fracture of his occipital condyle, a subarachnoidal hemorrhage, a fracture to his atlas vertebrae, loss of memory, loss of motion in both of his arms, sleeplessness, and post-traumatic stress disorder.
" An award of damages for pain and suffering is peculiarly within the province of the trier of fact and the fact that it is difficult to measure pain and suffering in terms of money does not prevent a recovery for that element of damages . . . Not only are damages for pain and suffering peculiarly for the trier of fact, but proper compensation for pain and suffering cannot be computed by a mathematical formula, and there is no ironclad rule for the assessment of damages." (Internal quotation marks and citations omitted.) Vickers v. Jessup, 32 Conn.App. 360, 372, 629 A.2d 457, cert. granted on other grounds, 227 Conn. 922, 632 A.2d 701 (1993) (appeal withdrawn 1994). Based on the foregoing, the court awards $100, 000.00 in non-economic damages to Mr. Vitelli.
The plaintiff is hereby awarded economic damages in the amount of $52, 554.91 and noneconomic damages in the amount of $100, 000.00 against the defendants Mad Crown Street Holdings and Assunta Delmonaco for a total damages award of $152, 554.91.