One expects officers to follow the laws they uphold. However, one night in Lakewood, California, a sheriff’s deputy threw his steel-reinforced police interceptor into reverse and floored it. Carelessly, he failed to check his rearview mirror first. Directly behind the deputy, a single mother in her 40s had needed somewhere safe to wait alone in her car for her children at the local YMCA. She had hesitated as she drove up the dark alley behind the facility, but she felt more secure when she saw the police interceptor. Suddenly, reverse lights barreled towards her, coming in fast — too fast. The police SUV slammed into the front of her car without the sheriff ever touching his brakes.
The impact caught the victim off-guard and smashed her head into the steering wheel. The discs in her cervical spine bulged out, and a wedge fracture compressed one of her thoracic vertebra. The crash totaled her car, though pictures at the scene showed limited external damage — similar to the woman’s own condition. Her broken back and traumatic brain injury (TBI) caused a lifetime of pain and deficits. Her post-crash diagnosis of fibromyalgia also required a life care planner and pain management doctor to address her ongoing suffering. Adding insult to injury, her sense of safety that police officers projected had also been irrevocably shattered.
Days after the accident, the Plaintiff reached out to Stacy Augustine in tears. The founder of Augustine Law, Stacy had worked in the legal industry for over a decade at the time, first as an independent paralegal and private investigator, then as a lawyer. His firm specialized in car crashes and child custody cases. The injured mother had learned her spine was fractured, and a swarm of eager attorneys were bombarding her with calls. However, she felt most comfortable with Stacy and chose him to represent her. Stacy’s years of experience with TBI cases and as a paralegal and private investigator allowed him to zero in on the bump on her head in the post-crash video. He asked if she had lost any time during the accident, and she said she had blacked out. Knowing this was a hallmark of brain injury, Stacy sent her to a doctor for neurological testing, which revealed a TBI. She later underwent a neuropsychological assessment through UCLA which further confirmed that she had mild neurocognitive disorder due to TBI.
However, the Defense balked at the notion that this incident was anything other than a low-impact collision. The deputy claimed the police interceptor was only 2 or 3 feet ahead of the victim (she said it was a full car-length ahead) and couldn’t have gone any faster than 5 miles per hour. In response to the alleged TBI, they pointed to the fact that the airbags didn’t deploy and that a video showed the victim holding a full conversation afterwards. Stacy needed to convince the Defense, whose client had a claims board — a group of 10 people — that not only were the victim’s injuries serious, the damages she was entitled to totaled in the millions, not the $250,000 they had offered. To sway them, he would need to demonstrate that this truly was a devastating crash.
Stacy brought on a cadre of experts — a neurologist, neuroradiologist, forensic expert, life planner, and a pain management physician — to ascertain the severity of the collision and the victim’s injuries. During discovery, he found that a stopped car’s airbags won’t necessarily deploy upon impact. A specialized neuroradiologist was hired to perform a second read of the MRI. He discovered a hyperintense focus on her left frontal lobe that had been missed. However, to convince the claims board — and a potential jury — he needed compelling visuals to tie everything together.
Stacy hired DK Global to distill the experts’ findings into a 3D reconstruction animation. If the case were to go to trial, jurors would be shown how the crash’s G-forces shattered her spine, inflicted a coup-contrecoup brain injury, and slammed her head into the steering wheel. DK Global’s animation also translated the MRI imaging into 3D illustrations to pinpoint the areas of injury along her spine and brain.
Specifically, the final 3D reconstruction animation showed a side-view of the victim. An SUV reversed into frame and crashed into the front of her car. Four photos from the scene of the car damage faded into view. During the "Mechanism of Injury" portion, the incident was replayed, but this time, the Plaintiff's brain and spine were visible, and the points of injury were highlighted in pulsating red. During the "Traumatic Brain Injury" part, a 3D rendering of a cross-section of her brain demonstrated exactly where her TBI took place. Screen captures from the MRI and its report were presented alongside the illustration. A second illustration showcased the region of the brain that was affected, as well as key findings from the MRI report. Finally, during the "Spinal Damages" section, a 3D rendering of her T11 wedge fracture and C4-C6 disc bulges were compared alongside the MRI images.
The Defense was able to present expert reports, medical imaging, and the DK Global reconstruction animation to the claims board. The claim never went to mediation. The animation revealed how awful the optics would look before a jury and showed that Stacy was trial-ready. The board agreed to settle for $1,500,000. When Stacy told the victim, she initially fell into a stunned silence and then burst into tears of relief knowing her battle was won.
Stacy Augustine is the founder of Augustine Law, which specializes in major car crashes and child custody cases. While Stacy has been a licensed attorney since 2018, his combined legal experience totals 17 years as he is also a private investigator and a former paralegal. He obtained his law degree from Taft Law School. He is also the head coach and director of Chosen Youth Basketball and co-founder of the Augustine Family Education Hub.
