Appeal by defendant from an order of the Civil Court, Queens County (J. Golia, J.), dated April 4, 2002, which denied his motion for summary judgment.

Order unanimously affirmed without costs.

The affirmed medical report submitted by defendant in support of his motion for
summary judgment made out a prima facie case that plaintiff did not sustain a serious injury pursuant to Insurance Law § 5102 (d). Defendant's doctors stated that plaintiff had recovered from a strain of his back. This shifted the burden to plaintiff to raise a triable issue of fact (Gaddy v Eyler, 79 NY2d 955 [1992]).

The plaintiff successfully opposed the motion by presenting evidence that he suffered a serious injury. He submitted an affidavit from a chiropractor who presented a qualitative assessment of plaintiffs condition which has an objective basis and compared the plaintiffs limitations of motion of his cervical and lumbar spines to normal function (Toure v Avis Rent a Car Sys., 98 NY2d 345, 350 [2002]). This was sufficient to raise a triable issue of fact warranting the denial of defendant's motion.
Decision Date: December 19, 2003