South Florida Injury Lawyer Blawg
Car accidents happen daily in Florida and across the United States. If you or someone close to you has been injured in an auto accident that was not your fault, please a contact a seasoned Miami car accident attorney as soon as possible. At the Law Offices of Robert Dixon, we are dedicated to helping South Florida clients obtain the justice and compensation they rightfully deserve.
Establishing Liability After a Car Accident
When it comes to determining fault in an accident, some cases are simple while others are complex. In the vast majority of auto accident cases, the legal concept of ‘negligence’ is used to establish fault. Negligence takes place when an accident is the result of someone failing to use the level of care that an ordinarily prudent person would have used behind the wheel under the same circumstances.
Using Circumstantial Evidence
In a recent car accident case, a Florida court upheld a jury’s decision for a plaintiff who sustained serious injuries after her vehicle was rear-ended by a van while stopped in traffic on a bridge. In this case, the court needed to make a determination about whether the plaintiff’s case wrongly relied on stacking a number of inferences since her evidence was circumstantial. The court held that the plaintiff’s case did not rely on the wrongful or inappropriate stacking of inferences and affirmed the lower court’s decision favoring the plaintiff.
Direct evidence refers to evidence of a fact in issue provided by a witness who came to it through his own senses or evidence from a document or item produced before the court. In other words, direct evidence is evidence that proves a fact without an inference or presumption. For example, witness testimony that one driver rear-ended another would be considered direct evidence. Circumstantial evidence, on the other hand, is not drawn from a direct observation of a fact in issue. This type of evidence tends to establish a fact by proving other happenings or circumstances, which provide a basis for a reasonable inference of the occurrence of the fact at issue.
Both direct evidence and circumstantial evidence are permitted in Florida personal injury claims. When a plaintiff offers circumstantial evidence to establish a claim, Florida law prohibits the stacking of inferences. The court recently noted that when a plaintiff’s claim is contingent on inferences to be drawn from circumstantial evidence, it cannot create a further inference upon the initial inference in order to prove a further fact, unless it can be found that the original basic inference was shown to the exclusion of all other reasonable inferences.
Skilled Miami Car Accident Attorneys
A car accident can quickly change your life. If you have been injured in a car accident and wish to know more abut your legal rights and options, you need to reach out to a skilled Miami auto accident attorney without delay. At the Law Offices of Robert Dixon, we believe in handling each and every case with the utmost competence and compassion. If you fail to pursue your claim in a timely manner, you could permanently lose your rights, so please remember that time is of the essence in these cases. For more information, call us today to discuss your injury claim at 1-877-499-HURT (4878) or contact us online.
More Blog Posts:
Florida Car Accidents Caused by Medical Conditions, South Florida Injury Lawyer Blawg, January 2, 2019
Florida Teenager Seriously Injured After Being Struck by SUV, South Florida Injury Lawyer Blawg, January 2, 2019
88-Year-Old Man Dies After Driving Golf Cart into Truck’s Path, South Florida Injury Lawyer Blawg, January 2, 2019