Pesa v. Kolesnikov

• Decision Date: 23 February 2021
• Docket Number: Index Nos. 151861/2019,152055/2019,Action Nos. 1,2,Motion Seq. Nos. 001,002,003
• Citation: 2021 NY Slip Op 33701 (U)
• Parties: EMIL PESA Plaintiffs v. VADIM KOLESNIKOV, VICTORIA SHAKHNOVICH Defendants. DANIEL JENTZ and DENISE JENTZ Plaintiffs v. VADIN KOLESNIKOV, VICTOIRA SHAKHNOVICH, EMIL PESA and ANA M. FILOSA, Defendants.
• Court: New York Supreme Court

2021 NY Slip Op 33701(U)

EMIL PESA Plaintiffs
v.
VADIM KOLESNIKOV, VICTORIA SHAKHNOVICH Defendants.

DANIEL JENTZ and DENISE JENTZ Plaintiffs
v.
VADIN KOLESNIKOV, VICTOIRA SHAKHNOVICH, EMIL PESA and ANA M. FILOSA, Defendants.

Index Nos. 151861/2019, 152055/2019, Action Nos. 1, 2, Motion Seq. Nos. 001, 002, 003

Supreme Court, Richmond County

February 23, 2021

Unpublished Opinion

RECEIVED NYSCEF: 02/24/2021

Present: Hon. Catherine DiDomenico

1

DECISION AND ORDER

Catherine M. DiDomenico Judge

Recitation as required by CPLR 2219(a) of the papers considered in the review of Motion Sequence Numbers indicated above

Numbered

Notice of Motion by Defendant Filosa (001), 1

Affirmation Opposition to 001 by Plaintiffs, 2

Reply Affirmation (to Plaintiff Opp) by Defendant Filosa 3

Affirmation in Opposition to 001 by Defs. Kolesnikov & Shakhnovich 4

Reply Affirmation (to Co-Def. Opp) by Defendant Filosa 5

Notice of Motion by Defendant Pesa (002) 6

Notice of Cross Motion by Plaintiffs (003) 7

Affirmation in Opposition to 002 by Defs. Kolesnikov & Shakhnovich 8

Affirmation in Partial Opposition to 002 by Def. Filosa 9

Affirmation in Opposition to 003 by Defs. Kolesnikov & Shakhnovich 10

Notice of Motion by Plaintiff Pesa (Seq. No. 002; Action 1) 11

Affirmation in Opposition by Defs. Kolesnikov & Shakhnovich 12

Upon the foregoing cited papers, the Decision and Order is as follows:

2

Procedural History, Present Motions

On or about November 6, 2019 the two actions captioned above were consolidated for the purposes of joint discovery and a joint trial. As the actions were not "fully" consolidated, each kept its own character and index number. The four motions currently pending before this Court all seek summary judgment on the issue of liability relating to a three-vehicle chain collision accident which occurred on January 13, 2019. Three of those motions were filed in action number two with the remaining motion having been filed by Emil Pesa in his role as a plaintiff in action number one. The motions filed by Mr. Pesa as a plaintiff, and as a defendant, raise the same arguments of fact and law. Accordingly, the resolution of one motion will necessarily resolve the other under principles of collateral estopple and res judicata. See Broder v. Pallotta &Assoc. Dev., Inc., 186 A.D.3d 1189 (2d Dept. 2020); see also Valiotis v. Bekas, 145 A.D.3d 707 (2d Dept. 2016).

The basic facts of the incident are not in dispute. The lead vehicle in the chain, a 2015 Subaru, was operated by Defendant Ana Filosa. The second vehicle in the chain, a Jeep SUV, was operated by Emil Pesa. Plaintiff Daniel Jentz was a passenger in the Pesa vehicle. Plaintiff Denise Jentz was not directly involved in the accident and only has derivative claims through her Husband. The third vehicle in the chain, a Land Rover, was operated by Defendant Shaknovich and owned by Defendant Koleshikov. The Shaknovich and Koleshikov Defendants are the only parties who have not filed a motion for summary judgment, rather, they have filed written opposition to all four pending...