You must have evidence to win a personal injury claim. Specifically, your lawyer must gather and present facts showing that the other party caused your injury in a legally culpable manner. Your attorney must also have proof to overcome the other party’s defenses.
Evidence is any information that may be used to prove or disprove a fact in a legal case. In a personal injury claim, only relevant evidence is useful.
Generally, evidence is considered relevant if it:
Suppose that you slipped and fell in a grocery store. Security camera footage may be relevant evidence because it could show how long the puddle existed and whether any store employees saw it.
Conversely, testimony from an employee that the manager was an alcoholic is generally not relevant. Alcoholism alone does not establish that the manager was intoxicated on the day of the accident or that they neglected their duties. Evidence of specific actions or omissions related to the incident may be relevant, but a broad assertion about someone’s character typically is not.
Evidence falls into several categories.
Fact witnesses can testify about their perceptions, which can come from any of their senses. For example, after a car accident, a witness could testify that they saw a vehicle going faster than the other vehicles, heard the tires squeal as the driver swerved, and smelled burning rubber.
These witnesses cannot speculate in their testimony. It would be improper for a lawyer to ask a witness about an event that occurred outside of the witness’s perceptions. For example, a pedestrian hit by a car cannot give an opinion about whether the driver’s intoxication caused the DUI accident.
Unlike fact witnesses, expert witnesses can give opinion testimony about events they did not perceive. Thus, an expert witness can testify that the other driver had a blood alcohol level of 0.04% and that this is high enough to affect their judgment and coordination. The expert can also testify about the ways alcohol affects drivers based on scientific studies.
Physical evidence includes objects, measurements, and other tangible evidence. For example, your lawyer might use the broken toaster that caught on fire as evidence in a product liability case.
Documentary evidence includes photos, video recordings, and printed records that “document” what happened. Examples of documents that might be relevant to your injury case include:
Although documents can serve as evidence, they are also subject to limitations. Your lawyer must show that they are authentic, handled properly, and do not constitute hearsay.
Generally, you can use any relevant evidence in your case. However, the evidence rules include some exceptions that the parties can use to exclude relevant evidence. The purpose of these exceptions is to prevent a party from using relevant but potentially misleading evidence. They might also enforce a broader social policy.
Hearsay is any out-of-court statement or writing used to prove the truth of the matter asserted. A party cannot use hearsay to prove that what was said or written was true. For example, an accident report that says, “the driver claimed the pedestrian darted in front of their vehicle” would be hearsay. Under the rules, it is better to ask the driver what they saw than to rely on a secondhand account of what they said.
However, even the hearsay rule has exceptions. The most important are the exceptions for statements against interest and excited utterances. These exceptions are often used when the other party apologizes or admits fault at the accident scene.
Thus, “Sorry, I should have watched where I was going” or “I can’t believe I did this!” could be admissible despite being hearsay.
Prejudicial evidence is excluded if it is likely to cause the jurors to turn against a party rather than inform them about what occurred. For example, a driver’s past DUI conviction might be excluded in a car accident case not involving alcohol because the jury might return a verdict against the driver simply because they do not like drunk drivers.
The law prevents the use of certain testimony to protect the witness’s relationship. The following relationships can create a privilege that precludes certain testimony:
Confidential conversations in these relationships are not admissible in court unless the privilege is waived or another exception trumps the privilege.
Before you can use evidence in your case, your lawyer must disclose it to the other party. This process is called discovery. The discovery rules prevent surprise evidence or testimony in a civil case. This allows both parties to prepare for any evidence the other party might use so they can present their best case to the jury.
Gathering evidence through investigations, document collection, witness interviews, and, when appropriate, the discovery process can provide the support your case needs. Contact McMinn Law Firm to discuss the evidence in your case and how we can present it to seek compensation for your injuries. Call us today at (512) 474-0222.
