All successful lawsuits must demonstrate clear proof that the defendant was responsible for the plaintiff’s injuries. Evidence in Gwinnett County car accident cases may include police reports, photographs, witness testimony, and more. For help collecting evidence and filing a personal injury claim, contact an experienced car accident attorney today.
Collecting Evidence
The first step in collecting evidence is to obtain the police report or any sort of report that was made. The attorney may look at the damage to the vehicles, pictures of the vehicles, both vehicles and all vehicles involved.
A lawyer will also likely want to look for all the evidence that applies. They will look at the damages to the vehicles, if the other person was hurt, if the other (at-fault) person was intoxicated. Were they on drugs? Were they drinking? Were they texting? Were they distracted? Why did it happen? How did it happen? Were there any witnesses? Is there any video footage? What are the skid marks? What do the skid marks show? What were the weather conditions? What were the road conditions? Were there any other contributing factors?
An experienced attorney will also likely try to collect all the evidence they can get their hands on, but standard pieces are definitely the police report, medical records, statements from witnesses, talking to the witnesses, video coverage—anything they can get their hands on.
How Long Does it Take to Collect Evidence?
It depends on the case. Gathering evidence is sometimes more of an art than a science. Attorneys may not find witnesses right away, so they have to get out there on the streets, knock on doors and visit businesses. Sometimes, they put up signs at the location of the wreck asking if anyone has any information.
As a result, one will always want to call an attorney early on in a case and have them get their experts out, identify that car, make sure it is not crushed, make sure it is not sold and make sure that the it is not fixed, which happens all the time in products liability car accident cases.
Litigation Process
Once they file suit, the attorneys must turn over the evidence they have to the other side. They have to show how it was collected, who collected it and the conditions in which it was collected. It just depends on the piece of evidence, the rules of law and rules of evidence. All judges have rules about what evidence is collected and how it is presented to the court, so attorneys have to break down each individual piece of evidence and make sure it is presented to the court in a legal way.
Attorneys do not want the other side to object if at all possible, but they want to get it to the judge and do all that early on, and hopefully, they have all that nailed down prior to going to trial so that they know whatever they can and cannot get at.
Hiring an Attorney to Gather Evidence in a Gwinnett County Car Accident Case
Gathering evidence in Gwinnett County car accident cases could be a complicated process. Photographs, video footage, physical evidence, and witness testimony all play varying roles in establishing a defendant’s negligence. An experienced attorney could help collect the necessary proof in your case and build a comprehensive claim for compensation. Reach out to an attorney today to learn more.