PLAINTIFF’S DEPOSITION TESTIMONY DEEMED INCREDIBLE AS A MATTER OF LAW IN THIS TRAFFIC ACCIDENT CASE, DEFENDANT’S SUMMARY JUDGMENT MOTION SHOULD HAVE BEEN GRANTED (FIRST DEPT).

The First Department, reversing Supreme Court, over a two-justice dissent, made the unusual finding that certain testimony did not raise a question of fact in this traffic accident case because it was incredible as a matter of law. Defendant’s motion for summary judgment should have been granted:

Although we agree with the dissent that as a general premise “the contradictions in the testimony of the respective parties raise issues of credibility for the trier of fact to resolve,” there are rare instances where credibility is properly determined as a matter of law … . This Court is not “required to shut its eyes to the patent falsity of a claim]” … . Here … we conclude that plaintiff’s deposition testimony was demonstrably false and should be rejected as incredible as a matter of law, permitting summary judgment in favor of defendant. Carthen v Sherman, 2019 NY Slip Op 00954, First Dept 2-7-19