In Cummins v. County of Onondaga, 84 NY2d 322 (1994) the decedent died when her car careened off a county road, flipped over, and landed upside down in a lake. There was a large bruise on her scalp consistent with a dent in the roof of a car. An eyewitness to the accident did not hear any cries from the decedent. The police arrived within a few minutes. They found no sign of consciousness or indication that the decedent tried to escape. The medical examiner testified that he could not determine if the decedent ever regained consciousness. Faced with these facts, the Court of Appeals held that there was no evidence from which a rational jury could find that consciousness after the accident and affirmed the judgment notwithstanding the verdict and dismissed that part of the jury verdict awarding damages for conscious pain and suffering.