An $11.4 million auto-negligence verdict is in peril after the Fourth District Court of Appeal sent the case back to trial, where jurors will decipher whether a plaintiff cyclist was too drunk to legally blame the driver who knocked him off his bike.

Palm Beach County resident Manuel Garcia was hit from behind by a van owned by MasTec North America Inc., an infrastructure engineering and construction company based in Coral Gables. Garcia’s injuries were extensive, according to the opinion, and he later sued Mastec and its former employee Robert Dumas for negligence.