Massachusetts Marathon Lawsuit: Woman recalls motorcycle impact, aftermath

OFF THE WIRE
http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/features/x938336375/Marathon-Lawsuit-Woman-recalls-motorcycle-impact-aftermath
Marathon Lawsuit: Woman recalls motorcycle impact, aftermath..

Norma Shulman of Framingham testifies yesterday during a civil trial in Middlesex Superior Court against a state police motorcyclist who struck her during the 2007 Boston Marathon.

By Danielle Ameden/Daily News staff GHS
WOBURN — Was it a simple accident or an abuse of power?
Lawyers for the state police and a Framingham woman who was hit by a police motorcyclist on the Boston Marathon sidelines in 2007 offered their sides yesterday in a civil case being tried in Middlesex Superior Court.
Norma Shulman, now 65, was struck by a Harley-Davidson driven by state police Sgt. Dennis Bertulli as she watched the Marathon on Rte. 135 in West Natick on April 16, 2007.
She is suing the state police, alleging negligence and an attempted cover-up by authorities.
"You know what? It was a sham investigation," her attorney, Chris Petrini, told a panel of 12 jurors.
In his opening statement, Petrini said Bertulli swerved, hit Shulman with the motorcycle and drove off. He said Lt. William Cederquist, who was investigating the accident, later coerced a key witness and authorities took "extraordinary measures" to avoid accepting responsibility, even filing an "improper" official report, with a false diagram that shifted the blame to Shulman. No charges were filed.
In an e-mail written three days after the incident, WBZ videographer Jim Haynes, who was driving the TV truck broadcasting part of the Marathon, wrote he viewed the crash as "vicious" and intentional and would testify on Shulman's behalf.
Cederquist interviewed Haynes. He wrote in the accident report that Haynes was at first "extremely upset," but after Cederquist told him it was an accident, Haynes "backed down from his contention that it was a deliberate act," according to the report.
Haynes is now prepared to testify for the state police, attorneys say.
"Is this how our system is supposed to work?" Petrini asked the jurors. He called it "a case of government misuse of power."
Assistant Attorney General David Hartnagel, who is representing the state police, countered, "I wish this case was that interesting and that exciting for all of us. It's not," he said.
Hartnagel characterized the incident as an "unfortunate accident."
The crash was a blemish on the 41-year-career of Bertulli, who retired in 2009. Video shows he was trying to protect the runners when he hit Shulman, his attorney, Joseph Kittredge, told jurors.
Haynes will testify he wasn't coerced, said attorney Timothy Burke, who represents Cederquist.
The only person to testify yesterday, Shulman recounted standing behind the white line on Rte. 135, just west of Mill Street on the cold, rainy morning of April 16, 2007. With her heels resting against the curb, Shulman said she was in the same spot where she had watched the Marathon for 26 years. She said she was holding a sign to support a neighbor coming in the main pack of runners and cheered as elite U.S. frontrunner Deena Kastor passed.
"I was yelling, 'Go Deena!"' she said.
Then, in a split second, Shulman said, she noticed a wheel rolling toward her. When the motorcycle's shell hit her, the impact knocked Shulman backward. The incident was captured by a Channel 4 camera.
"It's embarrassing to have gone flying and land splat in the mud and get all that attention," testified Shulman, a Framingham Town Meeting member and local volunteer. She received a bruise on her chest, she said, which doctors advised treating with ice and over-the-counter pain medicine.
In their cross-examination, lawyers for the state police challenged Shulman's story. They also argued that the race course is from one curb to the other and that she was wrong to stand where she did.
Bertulli had flashed his lights, waved his hand and blasted his air horn once or twice to get the attention of Shulman and her son-in-law to move onto the curb, Burke told jurors.
Burke said the pair, behind the white line, were "in the path of the runners."
"He's trying to get these folks off the road," Hartnagel told the jurors.
Under cross examination, Shulman acknowledged she was probably within an arm's length from the closest runner, which could disrupt the race.
Kittredge grilled Shulman, making a point of the fact she didn't ride to the hospital in an ambulance, among other details.
"I couldn't imagine making a big scene at the Marathon," Shulman testified. Feeling pain near her ribs, she said she drove herself to the emergency room several hours after the accident.
Her pain lasted six to eight weeks, but Shulman said she still lives with the humiliation of what happened, has sleep problems and contends with feelings of injustice and powerlessness.
"You can feel sick to your stomach and anxious and also angry," she said.
The lawsuit alleges negligence on the part of Bertulli and the state police. Bertulli is facing a civil allegation of assault and battery, and the suit alleges Cederquist violated Shulman's civil rights.

Shulman is seeking compensatory and punitive damages, attorneys fees and any other relief the court deems fit. The police initially told Shulman to file a claim under a provision in state law covering claims against the state or its employees, then refused to pay her roughly $1,000 in medical expenses, she testified.

The trial, which continues this morning, is expected to last until Thursday or Friday. Judge Douglas H. Wilkins is presiding.