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This month, we will be looking at things that we cannot tell the jury during a trial. It is truly unfortunate that as the party with the burden of proof, meaning the party that has to prove everything by a standard more likely true than not, that we cannot tell the jury the truth. I absolutely believe that the jury, during a trial, will start wondering about things that they are not told. Because of this I am always concerned that my client will bear the brunt of not being able to be forthright and get all the information across during the trial. It is one of the many ways an experienced personal injury lawyer can make sure your rights are protected as best they can be under the law.

In most cases, the defendant does have insurance. Under the rules as provided by the court, we cannot tell the jury about insurance. Consequently, there are no questions about what coverage the defendant has or whether there is coverage. I remember one case where after the fact, a juror asked why I would go after the elderly female defendant if I had already gotten the insurance money.

If you, your family or someone you know is going to trial in a personal injury case, you need to have an experienced trial lawyer on your side with success in helping people who are injured through no fault of their own. Because of all the potential ways that the insurance companies can take advantage, you need to know what your rights are and the best way to try your case.

2 Comments

  1. Gravatar for jc
    jc

    Mike- -the reason you are not allowed to talk about insurance coverage is because that might prejudice the jury. The jury is there, first and foremost, to decide if the defendant is guilty and if so, what the damages should be. The jury is not there to decide if the defendant can afford to pay the poor plaintiff. Your lack of insight on this key concept in our justice system is surprising. This is another reason we should have medical courts to adjudicate medical malpractice cases as they would look at causation instead of whether the doc could afford it.

  2. Mike Bryant

    Ah it's the local spammer coming to talk the law. The jury does spend time talking about if the defendant can pay and Insurance companies would rather hide behind defendants that look poor. Direct action states work and make more sense in assuring the jury focuses on the issues.

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