Toledo Car Accident Trial Process 

A trial process for a car accident in Toledo involves a jury selection, an opening statement by the plaintiff, and an opening statement by the defendant. The plaintiff would put on all of their witnesses, the defendant would cross examine those witnesses, eventually, the plaintiff would rest, the defendant would put on their witnesses, and the defendant would rest.

The plaintiff would give a closing statement, the defendant would give a closing statement, the plaintiff would give their close (final rebuttal statement), the judge would read the jury instructions, the jury would get the case, and they make a decision either in that moment or in the upcoming days. Talk to a professional car accident lawyer for more on the process of a trial in Toledo.

Opening and Closing Statements

The trial would start with voir dire, which is jury selection where a plaintiff’s attorney and the defendant’s attorney would have an opportunity to question the potential jurors to see how fair they would be and which individuals they may or may not want on the jury.

The trial would then proceed to an opening statement and the plaintiff and plaintiff’s attorney have the burden of proof by a preponderance of the evidence. A preponderance of the evidence means more likely than not. It means they have to prove their case and their theory of the case 51 percent to 49 percent so the plaintiff’s attorney gets to go first and then the defense attorney gets to go second and after that, the plaintiff’s attorney would call witnesses.

In a closing statement, the plaintiff’s attorney gets to go first because they have the burden of proof. Afterwards, the defense attorney goes and then the plaintiff’s attorney gets a short rebuttal. They get the last say because, again, they have the burden of proof. The Toledo car accident trial process can be tricky.

Multiple Defendants

The only difference with the order with multiple defendants is that they would be able to give the opening and closing statement, but the order of the plaintiff going first and last would still remain the same.

If a person was arguing that there was more than one defendant that was responsible for injuries, they would present the theory of the case and witnesses against all the different defendants. The strategy may depend on one defendant who has ,000 insurance coverage and the other defendant has a million dollars of insurance coverage. In that case, the strategy would be to point as much as possible toward the defendant who has the greater amount of insurance coverage. Of course, the strategy depends on the unique circumstances of each individual case.

Difficulties in Health Privacy Laws

There are confidentiality laws that every injured person would have on their medical records. If a person is bringing a personal injury claim and they are claiming that they are injured, they waive their right to keep that evidence confidential. It would not have any impact because by bringing the lawsuit, they have opened their medical history to the public.

Navigating Difficulties

By lots of preparation, by lots of experience, and years of profession, a lawyer can navigate the difficulties that occur in a Toledo car accident trial process. An attorney analyzes a case based on the personality and the past experience of the particular defense attorney. An attorney analyzes how they would respond to particular questions or strategies of the other side.