State Farm loses appeal as court reinstates $203,806 crash verdict

The panel also found the lower court misread a key witness. It had said a psychologist Benetis retained to evaluate her never connected the treatment to the crash. In fact, the court found, she testified the accident was the “direct and proximate cause” of Benetis’s PTSD, major depressive disorder and panic disorder. By doubting her, the judge had strayed into weighing credibility – a jury’s role, not the court’s.