McAllen Personal Injury Lawyers » Evidence Used in a Personal Injury Case
A discussion of four types of evidence commonly used in a personal injury case
Evidence plays an important role in the judicial process. It is what is used to prove or disprove different parts of a client’s case. There are four main types of evidence that are used in court, testimonial evidence, exhibits, documentary evidence, and demonstrative evidence.
Testimony
Testimony is evidence that is offered by a witness regarding their understanding of some event. There are two kinds of witnesses, first hand witnesses or eyewitnesses, and expert witnesses. First hand witnesses testify about their observation or understanding of an event. For example, if a car ran a red light and crashed into another car, an eyewitness who was present at the scene of the crash could testify about his observation of the events. Eyewitness testimony is some of the most common and persuasive evidence for a jury.
On the other hand, expert testimony is testimony given by someone who is an expert in his or her field who gives their understanding of an event. For example, imagine you are in a car accident and the other driver claims that he hit you because his brakes did not work, an expert witness could examine the brakes in the car and testify about whether or not the brakes are really broken.
Exhibits
Another type of evidence is an exhibit. Exhibits are physical objects that are presented into evidence. For example, if you are injured in a workplace accident because of someone else’s negligence your attorney could use an exhibit illustrating all of the different injuries that you sustained and the different medical procedure you have undergone. Exhibits can be very persuasive for a jury because people are generally more persuaded by visual representations of injuries rather than just spoken descriptions of injuries.
Documentary Evidence
Documentary evidence is evidence that is presented in the form of documents. For example, in many personal injury cases, the victim will suffer from some injury that requires medical attention. As part of the damages for the personal injury claim the victim is entitled to receive the cost of his medical care. In order to prove what the cost of his medical care is, the victim could present a copy of his actual medical bill to the court. This would be documentary evidence. Documentary evidence is useful because it is usually pretty clear cut and easy to understand.
Demonstrative Evidence
Demonstrative evidence is evidence that represents some other tangible item, like a picture or a video or sound recording. For example, if you are injured in an automobile accident, you could use a photograph of the scene as well of the damage done to your car and any injuries that you sustained. Demonstrative evidence can be very useful because juries respond well to visual representation of information.
You Should Hire an Experienced Attorney to Represent You In Your Court Case
Knowing what kind of evidence is useful and persuasive for a jury is something that takes experience. You want an attorney that has years of experience of using different pieces of evidence to successfully persuade a jury of their client’s case. The attorneys at Our Law Offices have over twenty years of experience and have won literally thousands of cases for their clients. Call today for a free consultation regarding your personal injury claim.
