What canI doabout a fraudulent witness?
Get Legal Help Today
Compare Quotes From Top Companies and Save
Secured with SHA-256 Encryption
What canI doabout a fraudulent witness?
I was in an auto accident in which I was hit directly on the side of my car. The police report states the primary cause was based on the other party’s failure to yield and the other party even stated there was a glare on their windshield. There were no witnesses other than friends of the other party and no witnesses are listed on the police report. However the other party is claiming a witness and their insurance company is basing liability off of this witness who I assume is one of the friends What can I do about this?
Asked on January 27, 2012 under Accident Law, Indiana
Answers:
S.L,. Member, California Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
If the other driver's insurance carrier is denying liability, you will need to sue the at-fault driver/ registered owner of the vehicle (if other than the driver) for negligence.
During litigation if the case is not settled and goes to trial, you will need to impeach the credibility of the witness. Impeachment of that particular witness would be accomplished by presenting evidence of bias if the witness is a friend or has some other relationship with the driver. The credibiility of the witness would also be impeached by introducing the police report into evidence at trial since the police report attributes the cause of the accident to the other driver's failure to yield. The credibility of the witness would also be impeached by the driver's admission of glare. You would want to raise all of these issues during cross-examination of the witness at trial.
You will need to file your lawsuit for negligence against the at-fault driver/registered owner of the vehicle prior to the expiration of the applicable statute of limitations or you will lose your rights forever in the matter.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.