Evidence is a legal term for anything that tends to prove or disprove a matter in dispute. Parties in a dispute must have evidence to support their claims or defenses. Without evidence, a claim or defense is simply speculation or an assertion.
Personal injury claims may require many types of evidence. You must prove how your injuries happened, what the other party did to cause them, and the extent of your losses.
Common Types Of Evidence
Evidence can take many forms, including the following:
Documents
Documents are often used as evidence. Some documents that might be admissible in court include:
- Receipts
- Bills
- Medical records
- Photographs
These documents may be used to prove their contents. For example, a bill could show the amount you spent on medical treatment for a brain injury.
Your attorney can also use documents to refresh your memory during testimony. Thus, you might review a crash scene photo to refresh your memory about the color of the car that hit you.
Physical Evidence
Physical evidence typically involves objects or samples recovered at the accident scene. For example, a broken ladder might be evidence in a product liability case against its manufacturer.
Eyewitness Testimony
Eyewitnesses can testify about their sense impressions. They might testify that they smelled burning rubber, heard a bang, and saw two cars smashed into each other. Eyewitnesses cannot give their opinions. For example, someone who witnessed a car accident cannot opine about who was at fault.
Expert Testimony
Expert witnesses are allowed to give opinion testimony. Experts must have knowledge, skill, experience, or training to testify. For example, an accident reconstruction expert can give an opinion about how a crash occurred based on their engineering background.
What Is Not Admissible As Evidence?
The Georgia Rules of Evidence also exclude some material from evidence. Examples of excluded evidence include:
Irrelevant Facts
The court cannot admit facts that do not prove or disprove a disputed fact. For example, whether a driver and passenger were married is irrelevant in a car accident case.
Prejudicial Information
Prejudicial information is anything that tends to give the jury a negative view of a party. As a result, the jury might return a verdict against the party simply because they do not like them or approve of their actions rather than weighing the facts of the case.
Thus, a judge might exclude information that an injured driver was once convicted of DUI if there is no allegation that they were intoxicated in this case. Such information might cause a jury to prejudge the victim rather than listen to facts about the accident and how it happened.
Hearsay
Hearsay is a complicated concept. The hearsay rule prohibits a party from introducing out-of-court statements for the facts contained in the statement. For example, to prove who was at fault, you cannot ask a witness who the police told them caused the crash.
The hearsay rule exists so that jurors can hear first-hand testimony rather than a retelling of an out-of-court account. Thus, an eyewitness might testify about the accident they saw. However, someone else cannot testify about what an eyewitness told them they saw.
The hearsay exclusion forces parties to find reliable sources of the information they want to present and avoid shortcuts. Instead of asking a witness what the driver told them, they must call the driver as a witness and ask what they did.
Hearsay also applies to documents. For example, accident reports are hearsay and are usually not admissible as evidence. Instead of presenting the accident report, the party must ask the investigating officer to testify about the investigation.
The hearsay rule has exceptions. For example, doctor’s bills are hearsay. However, you can introduce them as evidence because they are business records.
Gathering Evidence For Your Claim
Evidence can come from many sources. After your injury, you should gather the names of witnesses to testify and take photos of the accident scene.
You should also keep copies of any documents related to your accident and injuries. Examples of these documents include:
- Medical bills
- Ambulance bills
- Prescription receipts
You should also keep financial records that reflect out-of-pocket expenses you incurred. For example, if you need to rent a wheelchair during your recovery, keep a copy of the credit card statement with the rental fee.
The Role Of Your Lawyer
Your lawyer should ask about information you have that could constitute evidence or lead to evidence. For example, you will give the lawyer your list of eyewitnesses. They will also ask you to sign a HIPAA release so they can request a copy of your medical records from your doctor.
The attorney will include your evidence with your insurance claim. Importantly, claim adjusters do not follow the same evidence rules as judges. Thus, you can submit anything that might help settle your claim, even if it would not be admissible in court. Your lawyer will present your evidence to a jury if your case does not settle.
Evidence And Your Claim
An experienced attorney will know what evidence persuades insurers and jurors. They will also know how to fit common forms of evidence into their legal arguments. To learn more about evidence in personal injury cases, contact our experienced The King Firm Car Accident and Personal Injury Lawyers at (229) 386-1376.