I was involved in a motor vehicle accident. The other driver had failed to stop at a stop sign and struck my car on the driver’s side. An ambulance removed me from the accident scene to a hospital. I obtained the police report and the other driver admitted to the police that she did not stop at the stop sign. My attorney has told me that in her deposition, the other driver claimed I was speeding and caused the whole accident. Is there any way the jury will know what the other driver said to police?
The short answer is yes. This is just one aspect in navigating a car accident case. The police report statements will get into evidence before the jury. But there are many steps to go through to get to that point. I will try to highlight those legal reasons. But you may get lost in the weeds of all the legal arguments involved. If you have a certified copy of the police report, the statements in the police report will get into evidence.
Explanations for Prior Inconsistent Statements
Assuming that the statements given to police at the scene are in evidence, the driver may offer a variety of reasons for the difference between stories told at the scene and in court. The driver may say they time to think about the accident and realized they did stop at the stop sign. The driver could say they just assumed they went through the stop sign at the scene because the accident occurred. Or maybe the driver will claim they went back to the accident scene and realized that you had to be speeding because they claimed they would have seen you before the accident.
Without sounding like a complete cynic, there could be many other reasons for the inconsistent stories. It would then be up to jury to decide when was the other driver was telling the truth: in court or to the police at the accident scene.
Some of the Weeds
The complicated legal argument to admit police report statements into evidence would take up several posts. But these are some of the key points.
A police report is a business record as defined in CPLR section 4518. Business records are admissible to a jury. Police have a statutory duty to investigate the people involved and the happening of an accident. Vehicle and Traffic Law sections 603 and 603-a. Certified records from a government official are admissible. CPLR section 4540.
There is more to the legal argument, but these are just the highlights to get a police report statement into evidence at your trial. Then it is up to jury to decide what happened in your accident.
By James Santner, Esq.
If you have questions about a similar situation, feel free to contact us. Consultations are free and there is no fee unless we win.