Everyone knows the saying, “a picture is worth a thousand words.” This could not be truer than in the courtroom, where animations and diagrams can be powerful tools to prove a case.
We recently represented a woman who tragically lost both legs as the result of a car crash. Using physical evidence and witness testimony in an animation, we showed that she was not at fault, as the defense blamed her for being the cause of her own injuries.
Watching the animation, it became clear to the jury exactly what happened. The presentation really destroyed the defense/insurance company’s claim that our client was in the lane of travel, thus was at fault for her own injuries. The jury was then able to see that the defendant moved from the passing lane and back into the right lane and off the road, striking the client. Tragically, she lost one leg at the scene of the accident, and the other leg had to be amputated later due to complications.
You may wonder why it’s necessary to produce such detailed reenactments if all of the physical evidence and the witness statements say the same thing. The answer has two parts; first, some jurors may not be able to visualize what happened as well as other jurors. By having the animation created and playing it for the jury, it makes what happened at the scene absolutely clear. Second, studies have shown that if we hear something, we retain about 50% of that information, but if we hear AND see it, we retain upwards of 85%. By having the jury see and hear how the crash happened, we eliminated all ambiguity and allowed the jurors to be much more comfortable with their decision to side with our client, a really wonderful lady who was horribly injured as the result of this accident.
If you know or someone you know has been in an accident, please encourage them to call Christopher Ligori & Associates at (813) 223-2929 or (727) 862-2929 or visit LigoriLaw.com. We’re here to help!
