Famed lawyer Alan Dershowitz’s brother won a $4.6 million judgment from the US government for the death of his wife, who was killed by a US postal truck while the pair were riding their bikes in Manhattan in 2011, according to court papers filed Friday.
Marilyn Dershowitz, 68, was out cycling with her husband, Nathan, near a busy postal depot on West 29th Street when she was hit by driver Ian Clement after she steered around a parked postal trailer that was sticking into the street.
Widower Nathan filed the federal lawsuit against the US in 2012, accusing Clement — who was acquitted of leaving the scene of the accident — of driving carelessly and claiming that the Postal Service created a hazard by negligently leaving the trailer where it blocked the street.
US Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn ruled that the government was responsible and liable for Marilyn’s death.
“Had Mr. Clement scanned the roadway through his large panoramic windshield or used his right side mirror, he would have seen her,” the judge wrote in a decision last month.
“Although the Postal Trailer was plainly observable, it posed a danger to Mrs. Dershowitz despite use of her senses.”
In a five-page decision filed Friday, Netburn outlined the financial award, including $13,632.15 for funeral expenses and $300,000 for Marilyn’s pain and suffering as she lay dying on the street.