Who Are The Best Witnesses For TBI Cases?
Chris Finney, Trial Attorney
With our traumatic brain injury (TBI) cases we prefer to use witnesses that knew the client before and after the injury. Who are able to testify and tell a jury at trial and others about the changes they have personally seen and realized in the injured individual.
What Does A Traumatic Brain Injury Witness Look Like?
A TBI witness can come in many forms. It can be in the form of a spouse or child who is able to identify that their mom, dad, brother or sister just aren’t the same after the accident.
Identifying A TBI Witness
We meet with people apart from our client. It can be very difficult for a loved one to discuss the changes they have seen in their parent, their spouse, their brother, their sister with them sitting in the room. We encourage them to sit down with us and we ask “what have you seen, what has changed?”
We hope they say not a lot and the symptoms aren’t so severe. But typically, what they say is “they’re flying off the handle, they’re just not who they are. We don’t know what’s happen to them but they’re not as understanding, they’re not as empathetic, they don’t like me, they don’t seem to like themselves.”
Traumatic Brain Injury Witness Testimony
Their (TBI witness) testimony is powerful to a jury. We believe it’s because it’s not a doctor on the stand testifying to it. Yes, it is important to have a doctor testify, to help explain the injury, what it is and what it has done. But, it’s all subjective in how the injury affects the injured party. So, our attorneys at Finney Injury Law want the client’s loved ones, their friends, relatives and neighbors.
In some cases you may even have a yoga teacher. They’re able to testify to changes as well. They’re able to say “hey, the client hasn’t been back to yoga since the crash and I’ve called her once or twice to see what’s wrong and they just don’t seem themselves.”
This is powerful evidence, to say “hey, I’m the yoga teacher and she used to come five times a month for the last five years now I haven’t seen her at all.”
Lay Witness Makes the Best Witness
A witness that is not paid, a witness who has no skin in the game, a witness that is telling the truth and so their biased is unassailable. They (witness) are saying what they’ve seen, what they’ve heard and what they know about the injured party.
So, when we talk about the witnesses we want to use, which are the best ones, we (our attorneys) think it is the lay witness. This is not a revolutionary idea, that is what we’re seeing these days in court and, it actually works.
Know When to Contact a Personal Injury Lawyer
If you or your loved one are experiencing memory loss, irritability, depression, anxiety or the inability to concentrate after a car accident or slip in fall first, seek medical attention immediately. Then, contact an experienced brain injury attorney who will help guide and advocate for you and your loved one in the court of law.
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