When you present your personal injury case in court, the defense will try to contradict what you say with its own witness testimony. This leaves the judge and jury in a difficult spot where they have to decipher whose testimony to believe. Therefore, the believability of witness testimony can be just as important as the content of the testimony itself. While you’ll need to focus on ways to support the trustworthiness of your witnesses’ testimony, you’ll also want to find ways to attack the credibility of the defense’s witnesses. If you’re successful in doing so, then you can diminish the amount of weight given to that testimony, which could give you the edge needed to win your case.
But how can you address witness credibility in your case? It can be a difficult question to answer, but there are sound legal strategies that you can utilize to protect your interests. Let’s look at some of them here so that you have a better idea of how to approach problematic testimony in your personal injury case.
Tips for attacking witness credibility in your personal injury case
There are a lot of different ways to address witness testimony. Let’s look at some legal strategies that you might be able to use advantage.
- Point out inconsistencies: One of the most effective ways to diminish the persuasiveness of witness testimony is to show that they’ve made inconsistent statements over time. One powerful way to do this is to depose the witness before trial, that way you lock down their statements under oath. Then, if the witness changes their account in their trial testimony, then you can use the depositional testimony to contradict them. This will send a clear signal to the jury that the witness can’t be trusted.
- Highlight limitations that apply to their account: Some witnesses simply claim to have seen or heard things in a way that simply isn’t possible. So, be sure to get a clear understanding of any medical conditions that may affect a witness’s vision or hearing and know how their location at the time of the accident may have limited their ability to see and hear the wreck.
- Show criminal history: You can’t use any criminal history you want to try to deflate a witness’s reliability, but you might be able to utilize evidence of criminal offenses tied to dishonesty to show their untrustworthiness. This would include convictions for things like fraud and forgery.
- Demonstrate motivation: Some witnesses are motivated to testify against you. For example, if they were involved in the accident, then they have an interest in shielding themselves from a finding of liability, thereby motivating them to try to shift all the blame onto you. So, be sure to scrutinize each witness and their anticipated testimony so that you can identify whether there’s an underlying reason for them to testify against you.
Leave no stone unturned in your Orlando personal injury case
To maximize your chances of winning a personal injury case, you need to take a comprehensive approach that adequately addresses each aspect of your claim. That can seem daunting given all the nuances of the legal process, but breaking your case down into manageable pieces can make the process easier to get through.
Still, though, you’re going to need legal knowhow to aggressively and effectively advocate for the outcome that you want. So, now is the time to read up on how the law applies to your set of circumstances and what you can do to better position yourself for success.
