Trial Magazine

Hussein Agiz, 18, was driving his motorcycle through a commercial warehousing complex owned by Heller Industrial Parks when a vehicle owned by Jonathan Bonilla struck him. Bonilla was drag racing at the time of the incident. Agiz sustained severe injuries, including a brain contusion and amputation of his right arm and leg, and required 11 surgeries.

He sued Bonilla and Heller Industrial Parks. The plaintiff claimed that drag racing occurred regularly within the complex as evidenced by multiple police reports in the years preceding the incident.

A jury awarded Agiz more than $6.6 million, apportioning liability at 60 percent to Bonilla and 40 percent to Heller Industrial Parks. The award included approximately $2.3 million for the plaintiff’s pain and suffering. Plaintiff counsel filed a post-judgment motion, arguing that the jury had violated the court’s instructions by reducing the plaintiff’s pain and suffering damages to present value. The court granted the plaintiff a new trial on noneconomic damages only.

The jury awarded the plaintiff $39 million for pain and suffering.

Citation: Agiz v. Bonilla, No. MID-L-4520-13 (N.J. Super. Ct. Middlesex Cnty. Jan. 31, 2019).

Plaintiff counsel: Bruce H. Nagel and Andrew L. O’Connor, both of Roseland, N.J.