Your Honor, the plaintiff calls James Hughbanks
Yes, I do.
If it please the Court, counsel.
You may begin.
Good afternoon.
Do you think you could possibly introduce yourself to the jury over here?
Yes.
I'm James Hughbanks.
I live in Bradenton, Florida.
Okay.
And how long have you lived in Bradenton? Since 2005.
Okay.
Been in Sarasota since '99.
Okay.
And what do you do for a living Mr. Hughbanks? I'm a catastrophic insurance adjuster.
I also own an app -- a mobile app development company in a part-time position.
All right.
Well, this jury here is going to get -- is being asked to find out all the harms and losses
that came -- arose out of a crash that Ms. Dannette Griffith was in back on June 6, 2007.
Are you okay to talk about that a little bit today? Yes.
Okay.
Why don't you go ahead and start with just telling them when you first met Ms. Griffith.
I met her in 2001.
My wife and I, which is now ex-wife, moved to the Bent Tree neighborhood where she lived
in August of 2001 and met Dannette sometime in between Thanksgiving and Christmas of 2001.
All right.
And tell us all a little bit about how your interaction with
Dannette progressed over the next couple of years after 2001.
We became very good friends.
Her and my wife became best friends, spent a lot of time together on a regular
basis until we moved out of that location in 2005 and then moved to Bradenton.
Okay.
And how often did you interact with her between 2001 and 2005?
A few times a week usually.
I mean, when we lived in the neighborhood, it was probably three to four times a week.
When we moved out of it, it's probably only once or twice a month.
We went to the same church, and she lived close to that church, so we
would stop many times on a Sunday after church to see her and things.
Okay.
And was that -- were you still seeing her pretty regularly before June 6th of 2007?
No.
Once we moved to Bradenton, it was only a couple times a month that we'd see her.
Okay.
But regularly once or twice a month? Yes.
Okay.
And go ahead and give the jury an idea about some of the activities that you yourself saw Ms. Griffith doing.
When? Before the crash.
Pardon? Before the crash, yeah.
Give an idea of what she was like before the crash.
What activities did you see her do?
Very active, you know, my wife and I had a motorcycle at that time, too, and she had a small one.
She'd be able to ride that, you know, around the neighborhood and things.
Went to the beach a lot.
My wife and her liked to go dancing and things.
So she was very active, could do anything really pretty much.
I wasn't even aware she really had any disability.
Okay.
What kind of dancing?
Just freelance -- freestyle dancing at, you know, clubs things here in Sarasota.
Okay.
And describe her personality before the crash.
Very -- very upbeat, very -- she was in sales, you know, that's what she pretty much did her whole life.
So my life has always been about sales, so it's about being able to, you know, communicate
with people, be upbeat, you know, just be -- salesmen usually are not pessimistic-type people.
All right.
And would you describe her before June 6th of 2007 as being like
more active or more of a laid-back sort of, you know, lazy-type?
No.
Very active, you know, we always -- when we'd go over there, we'd always be out
by the pool, you know, being active, not sitting inside the house or anything.
So she always loved the outdoors a lot.
So many times when we'd get together, a lot of things were outdoor-type things that we would do together, so -- Okay.
And tell the jury a little bit about the cookouts.
That would be by her pool, you know, we would always -- she has seating out there, and
we'd always be there or be over at our house and, you know, just doing regular cookouts.
She liked to entertain a lot.
All right.
So she was always a, you know, gracious entertainer as they would say.
Okay.
Before June 6th of 2007, had you ever seen her, like, complain --
have you ever heard her complain about her back or neck or anything?
No.
She didn't really complain about anything.
Okay.
Had you ever seen her decline any kind of activity? No.
Never.
Okay.
Had you -- She was always able to do things.
I mean, there was no restrictions.
We didn't -- I didn't have any injuries; my wife didn't have any injuries.
We all did the same kind of things constantly.
Okay.
So let's kind of fast forward a little bit to after June 6th of 2007.
Do you remember the first time you talked to her after that?
Yeah.
It was in a few days, a week, or something of that nature when the accident happened.
Okay.
What do you remember about that?
I know she was working for Terminix, and she was doing very well at it, was happy at it
and, you know, talked to me about people that she might know that I could refer her to.
Just, you know, very aggressive going out and getting business.
And after the accident, she, you know, just kind of went
dormant, you know, she couldn't work; she couldn't do anything.
She -- we'd hear from her less and less, actually.
Okay.
She wouldn't get out.
And do you remember any specifics about what parts of her body were bothering her after June 6, 2007, this crash?
It -- I mean, she was a pretty healthy looking girl, you know, she wasn't skinny or anything.
You know, we slowly started noticing, you know, she couldn't -- you know, definitely
couldn't walk, you know, that her gait just kept getting worse and worse, and she -- you
know, she'd slump over and be twisted one particular way and then, you know, later on
started seeing, you know, some twitching going on like nerves that just, you know, jerk.
And that was pretty much what her life ended up started being like.
Okay.
And why are you sure that this started on June 6, 2007, rather than a few months or afterwards?
Well, because it happened within a relatively short time.
When I saw her the first time after that, within a few days, you know,
to a week, you know, I saw these things all starting to happen.
So I kept contact with her a little, at least a couple times a month.
She wasn't able to go to church anymore or anything, so we'd stop over there after -- after that.
Okay.
Actually, I think you answered my question about the twitching.
Had you ever seen her twitch before this accident of June 6, 2007?
No.
Never.
Did you ever see her grimace or anything like that before June 6, 2007?
No.
Not that I recall.
I mean, she would act like anybody else and normal at the beach, you know, run, play
frisbee, you know, swim, jump through the water, you know, didn't see anything abnormal.
Okay.
And you -- the jury saw her walking up and getting in the chair and then saw her leave a second ago.
Is this her behavior here -- she's not in the room, so we can talk open about her.
Is her behavior as you saw it here fairly consistent with the past few years, or has
it gotten -- give the jury an idea of how -- It seems to progressively get worse.
I even had her stay at my house for about five or six days just a few months back because it
was -- you know, I've got a really nice Tempur-Pedic bed, and I said, Well, you know, maybe
if you slept in a better bed, it might be better for you, and you might have neck pillows --
the right neck pillows and just see that it would -- she just could not move in the mornings.
It was extremely difficult just to get started.
It would take a couple hours for her just to get moving where she could loosen up enough to
start moving, you know, try to bend over to pick up something is a sight to be seen, actually.
The way she contorts herself just to try to get down to try to get something.
It's, you know, not good.
All right.
And did you ever get an impression as to whether or not she was just laying around, or was she trying to get better?
Well, she was trying to get help, you know, it took a long time for her to seem to get the help.
I'd always hear of, you know, she couldn't get to this doctor, she couldn't see that doctor, and it didn't seem
like things started getting better until she finally was able to get some -- on Social Security Disability.
And then, you know, we started seeing some improvements of where she was at
before, but that's -- you know, I think they changed her medication some.
That helped a little, but none of the symptoms went away.
Everything was just pretty well severe.
Okay.
When did you first notice her starting to have difficulty walking, moving around?
Right away.
Okay.
After that accident -- you know, ever since that accident, she's never been the same, ever.
Have you ever seen her limp one time before this accident?
No.
I didn't -- I wasn't even aware she had -- I knew she had had a previous accident from years
ago, you know, she's had CS and things done to her neck, but I never saw any results of that.
I've had a couple whiplashes and been to the chiropractor when I was young and stuff and still
have some problems here and there, but -- you know, so I understand how that kind of thing feels.
But I'd go to the chiropractor and -- she's not much a complainer, but over the course of
time, you know, when you just can't get the help, it just starts really getting depressing.
So, you know, she kind of kept in the house and wouldn't go to the doctors that she could go to.
But just things didn't get better; it just kept getting worse.
Okay.
No further questions, Your Honor.
All right.
Cross? Thank you, Your Honor.
Good morning.
It still is.
Okay.
So you've known Ms. Griffith since approximately 2001 -- Yes.
-- is that correct? And you moved out of the neighborhood around 2005?
Yeah.
Okay.
Did Ms. Griffith ever tell you about being involved in any other accidents than the accident that we're here for?
She had an accident -- she had said she had had an accident -- I mean, before this
one, I knew she had had an accident years ago I think up in Indiana or something.
Said she had something done to her neck or something of that nature, but, you know, it
didn't look -- I didn't see any restrictions that she was experiencing -- All right.
-- from that.
That -- the accident we're here for's the only one you know about?
What do you mean?
The accident that we're here for today is the only accident that you know about that involved Dannette Griffith?
No.
What other accident? The one up in Indiana?
Yeah.
The one up in Indiana.
Okay.
That's what I'm talking about.
Any others? No.
All right.
Yeah.
You confused me a little.
I'm sorry; that was a bad question.
Now, do you consider yourself a good friend? Yes.
Very good friend.
And you've kept in good contact with her? Yes.
And does she come down and stay with you?
I've had her come down and stay at the house a few times, yeah.
Okay.
And -- Up in Bradenton.
Are you aware of her narcotic use? Yes.
And thinking of the point in time of the accident of June the 6th, 2007, when did you notice this decline
that you described where she could not walk, her gait was abnormal, she was twisted and twitching?
When did you see that?
It just -- I saw the -- I didn't see the twitching until maybe a month or two later.
The walking was immediately, I mean, she was limping, you know, just
could barely -- you know, very restricted in, you know, moving.
And did that kind of restricted movement, from your observations when you saw her, continue on until today?
Yes.
They keep -- progressively kept getting worse.
Okay.
So from the years 2006 all the way up until today, she's had that problem with walking?
Yes.
Has -- have you noticed that she's had the problem from 2006 all the way until today with bending over?
Yes.
Have you -- and the same question for -- Well, 2007.
Okay.
We'll make it 2007.
For just average daily living activities.
Yeah.
It's just been night-and-day difference.
All right.
2010, same thing? Yes.
All right.
Thank you.
Any redirect? MR. No thank you, Your Honor.
All right, sir, you may step down.