Print Countersign Trial with airSlate SignNow

Print countersign trial

How do we introduce a photograph into evidence at the time of trial? Would you like to learn the answer? Come join me as I share with you this great information. Hi. I'm Gerry Oginski. I'm a New York medical malpractice and personal injury trial lawyer practicing law here in the state of New York. So imagine we're going to trial and now it's a car accident case. There's a key piece of information that I want to get into evidence; that I want to able to show to the jury. How do we actually get that photograph into evidence so that now I can show it to the jury? Well there's a number of different ways to do that. Either I can get the defense attorney to agree that this information is accurate and portrays the actual accident scene or I can get a witness on the stand (whether it's my client or some other witness) to now confirm that the information contained in this document or in this photograph is an accurate representation. Let me give you an example. I call Mr. Jones to the witness stand. It turns out that Mr. Jones was a witness and was standing at the intersection and he actually observed and saw the accident happen. Good morning, Mr. Jones. You, in fact, witnessed this particular accident. Isn't that true? "Yes." And you were intending to go where? You were crossing the street, isn't that correct? "Yes, I was." And was there anything obstructing your view? "No, there wasn't." By the way, have you been at this intersection before? "Oh yes, hundreds of times." And have you been there during the day time? "Yes." Have you been there at nighttime? "Yes I have." And Mr. Jones, can you tell us, did you actually witness the two cars collide with each other? "Yes, I did." Now Mr. Jones, let me show you this photograph and now Mr. Jones looks at the photograph. Have you seen that photograph before? "Yes, you showed it to me this morning before I took the witness stand." Excellent. And are you familiar with the location of what's contained in that photograph? "Yes I am." Tell us, Mr. Jones, what's in that photograph? "Oh, it's a picture of the intersection of Main Street and First Avenue." And where does that show, what view, what angle does that show? "Oh, it shows the angle from where I am standing on the southwest corner looking across the street." And in fact, were you standing on the southwest corner? "Yes I was." Now Mr. Jones, does the information contained in that particular photograph does that accurately portray the intersection as it existed at the time of this particular accident. "Yes it does." Great, may I have that photograph please? Your Honor, I now offer this photograph into evidence. And the judge will now turn to the defense attorney and say, "Defense counsel, any objection?" And he'll either say "No objection, your honor" at which time it will be marked and put into evidence. And then I have the ability to then turn to the jury. Your Honor, may I show and publish this photograph to the jury? "Yes, you may." And then the court officer will then take the photograph and give to the jury so they can actually see exactly what's contained in the photograph. If the defense attorney says, "Your Honor, I object to this photograph going into evidence" the judge is going to ask why, what's the problem? And now the defense attorney will have to give a legal reason why he believes this particular photograph should not be entered into evidence. And then the judge will have to make a decision about whether to agree or disagree with the defense attorney's objection. So why do I share this great information with you? I share it with you just to give an insight and an understanding into what goes on in the litigation process here in the state of New York. You know, I realize you're watching this because you have questions or concerns about what could happen in your particular matter. Well if your matter happened here in the state of New York and you do have legal questions, what I encourage you to do is pick up the phone and call me. I can answer your legal questions. This is something that I do every single day and I welcome your call. You can reach me at 516-487-8207 or by email at Gerry@Oginski-law.com. That's it for today's quick video. I'm Gerry Oginski, have a wonderful day!