Depending on the nature of an injury, Buffalo personal injury attorneys may ask an injured client to show his or her injuries directly to the jury. Whether an injured person should be allowed to exhibit personal injuries has been an area of law that has been extensively contested.
In this situation, the defendant may argue that the exhibition should not be allowed because the sympathy it may generate among the jurors for the plaintiff may lead to undue prejudice against the defendant. This concern is especially expressed among corporate defendants, which by the very nature may have difficulty personally connecting with the jury. Nonetheless, if the nature and extent of the injuries is an issue at trial, in most cases the judge will allow the plaintiff to exhibit his or her injuries.
Properly authenticated photographs of an injury also are usually admissible as evidence.
Whether a plaintiff may demonstrate the effects of a personal injury to the jury, however, is a more open question. Such a decision will generally be left to the sole discretion of the trial judge. If there is a concern that the plaintiff may simulate a nonexistent limitation during the demonstration, that is sufficient reason for the judge to exclude it as evidence.
{ 0 comments… add one now }