I just started taking PI cases and have an auto accident case that may proceed to litigation. In my state the crash report is inadmissible hearsay. How do you establish liability at trial if no witnesses besides the two drivers?

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You can also usually call the officer as a witness for their first hand experiences on the day and have them review their report.

Also, many of their medical reports and records may discuss the crash and what your client reported to their doctors

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Depose the police officer who authored the report for admissibility purposes. As to proving liability, it’s he said v she said, so gotta discredit and impeach other driver in depo and on stand. Also get a liability expert in accident recon and they can use photos of the damage to both cars and both parties depo testimony to help you prove other driver was at fault.

Did police report place liability on either driver?

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Obtain the certifed judgment of conviction and use it to move for SJ based on res judicata. There have to be cases where this happened.

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If the value of the case justifies bringing in experts, then definitely being in the accident reconstruction experts and/or biomech if needed, also,
a FOIL request for video footage from traffic camera(s) if available, and put actual police officer, EMS personnel first on scene on stand if any.

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A good cross examination, a biomechanical expert as mentioned above, google maps images, photos, other evidence re speeds, intersections, roadway defects, etc

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In a few of the cases I've been involved in, we've brought in forensic experts that could speak to the physical evidence of the crash (and what that meant to who was at fault), as well as used the testimonies of the two drivers. Here's hoping that you at least have that...and if it involved an intersection or a stoplight then you could depose the city/county traffic and road experts as well. Good luck in your case!

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Welcome to ID practice!! 😂

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EDR data in the vehicle may help to indicate speed if one vehicle owner is claiming they stopped at an intersection.

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