Recent Blog Posts
Surveillance Video Helps Motorcycle Crash Victim Secure Settlement
When you have been involved in an auto accident, most advice from attorneys and insurance companies recommends against admitting fault or apologizing to the other party or parties involved. This is because car, truck, and motorcycle accidents are often the result of many factors in addition to your own behavior. Apologizing or admitting fault could cause the police, insurance claims adjusters, and investigators to take you at your word instead of looking more deeply into the circumstances the crash. The other drivers are also less likely to voluntarily take responsibility if you have already done so.
Sometimes, a more in-depth investigation into an accident may lead to the discovery of evidence from unexpected sources, including security cameras installed on homes, government buildings, and private businesses in the vicinity of the crash. Footage from one such camera recently provided the proof a Prospect man needed to collect a large settlement following a motorcycle accident in Bethany.
Appellate Judge’s Opinion Suggests Jury Process Changes
When a person is facing criminal charges and his or her case goes to a jury trial, there is a long list of rules that Connecticut courts must follow to ensure the trial is handled properly. Such rules address not only a suspect’s rights but also the process of the trial itself, including collecting a pool of potential jurors and selecting the appropriate number of jurors to decide the case. Jury selection is an important part of the criminal justice process, but at least one Connecticut judge believes that the current rules that govern jury selection should be amended to be more inclusive.
Peremptory Challenges
During jury selection, attorneys for both sides—prosecutors and defendants in a criminal trial—have a tool at their disposal known as a peremptory challenge. A peremptory challenge gives the attorney the ability to strike a prospective juror without a detailed explanation. Compared to a challenge for cause, peremptory challenges may be limited by jurisdictional rules. While a peremptory challenge does not require a justification, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1986 that such challenges could not be used to strike a prospective juror solely on the basis of race.
Black Box Data Leads to Settlement for Injured Family
The moments after an auto accident can be extremely important in determining which driver’s insurance company should be paying for the resulting damages or injuries. In most cases, each driver provides a reasonably accurate account of what happened to the responding police officer, and the officer uses that information to file an accident report. Sometimes, however, the information provided by one or both drivers conflicts with the physical evidence or other individuals’ accounts of the accident. When this happens, crash investigators may need to find other ways to figure out exactly who was responsible.
Event Data Recorders
You are probably aware that commercial airplanes are generally equipped with an electronic device that records flight data and other important details that could be important when a crash or an unexpected mechanical failure occurs. Commonly known as a "black box"—despite being bright orange so that it can be found more easily at a crash site—the device is actually called an "event data recorder" or EDR.
Governor Malloy Continues Battle Against Opioid Epidemic
The state of Connecticut is presently on pace to set a tragic record of more than 1,000 opioid-related deaths in 2017. If things continue on their current pace, 2017 will surpass last year’s record of 917 by a rather large margin. According to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, an average of nearly three residents are dying from accidental drug overdoses every single day. While the word is not one that should be used lightly, but experts throughout the state and across the nation have rightfully identified the country’s opioid problem as a true "epidemic."
Connecticut Governor Dannell P. Malloy has refused to sit quietly and let the issue go unaddressed. In fact, last month, he signed legislation for the fourth consecutive year aimed at curbing the crisis. This year’s new law may not be as far-reaching as those from the previous two years, it is a step in the right direction and was unanimously passed in both chambers of the state legislature.
Distracted Driving Accident Awards Up as Defendants Must Answer Cell Phone Questions
When a driver causes an accident because he or she was talking or texting on his or her cell phone, he or she is not likely to admit the truth to the police officer on the scene. Instead, it is often left to investigators and others working on behalf of the injured victim to prove that the at-fault driver was distracted at the time of the crash. Recent procedural changes in Connecticut, however, have made it easier for claimants to address distracted driving concerns following an accident.
New Interrogatory Questions
Beginning on January 1, 2017, the Judicial Branch of the State of Connecticut amended the standard questionnaire—known as interrogatories—that injured victims send to defendants (and vice versa) during the discovery phase of car accident cases. For the first time, both parties in such a case must answer under oath prior to trial whether they "were using a cell phone for any activity including, but not limited to, calling, texting, e-mailing, posting, tweeting, or visiting sites on the Internet for any purpose, at or immediately prior to the time of the incident."
Women Sentenced for Manslaughter in Suicide Case
Throughout the United States, suicide is a serious yet under-discussed problem. Each year, more than 40,000 Americans succeed in taking their own lives, with countless more making one or more attempts. Suicide is now the second-leading cause of death for individuals between 15 and 34—only accidents claim more lives. For friends and family members of a suicide victim, the situation can be traumatic and life-changing, as they may feel like they have failed their loved one. Recently, however, a Massachusetts court ruled that a young woman who encouraged her boyfriend to kill himself must now serve at least 15 months in prison for involuntary manslaughter.
A Tragic Set of Facts
Three years ago, an 18-year-old man Massachusetts man committed suicide by filling his pickup truck cab with carbon monoxide in a store parking lot. As officials investigated the death, they found that the man’s girlfriend—a 17-year-old young woman—had been sending him messages via text and social media encouraging him to go through with his suicide plan. According to reports and court documents, the teen even allegedly told the young man to "get back in" when he got scared and got out of his carbon monoxide-filled truck.
Understanding Assault Charges in Connecticut
When you hear a news report or a read a newspaper article that refers to a violent crime, it is not uncommon to encounter the word “assault.” Depending on the circumstances of the offense and the jurisdiction, the word may be used in conjunction with the term “battery”—as in the “The suspect was arrested and charged with assault and battery.” But, what does assault entail? If you are facing charges for assault in Connecticut, it is important to understand what the law says.
The first thing you should know is that there is not a separate offense known as “battery” in Connecticut. Almost any situation that involves an injury due to the use of violence, force, or a deadly weapon is categorized as a type of assault. State law provides three degrees of assault which range from Class A misdemeanors up to Class B felonies, and penalties may be increased depending on factors such as the age, condition, disability, or occupation of the victim.
Car Accidents On the Job May Give Injured Victims Options for Compensation
Every day across the country, thousands of car accidents occur and thousands of victims are injured as a result. When you are hurt in a car accident caused by another driver, you have the right to pursue compensation for your injuries from the at-fault party. But, what happens when you are in a car accident while on company time or in a company vehicle? While such situations may become more complicated than “normal” car crashes, if you are injured while driving a company car on the job, you may have additional avenues for collecting the compensation you need to put your life back on track.
Third-Party Lawsuit vs. Workers’ Compensation
The Connecticut workers’ compensation program is designed to provide benefits for employees injured in the course of performing their jobs. In most cases, workers are eligible for workers’ compensation benefits regardless of who was at fault for their injuries. The workers’ compensation system also prevents most lawsuits filed by injured workers against their employers. Workers’ compensation benefits generally cover medical expenses, lost wages, and vocational retraining for employees who cannot return to their previous jobs.
The Problems With Courtroom Identification
It is one of the basic tenets of American criminal law: a person charged with a crime has the right to face his or her accuser. In a criminal case, the accuser is usually the state or the federal government but the so-called “confrontation clause” of the Sixth Amendment to the Constitution guarantees a criminal suspect the right to confront any witnesses against him or her as well. The provision was intended to prevent a defendant from being convicted on the basis of testimony or written evidence without the ability to challenge the witnesses’ statements in front of a jury.
When a witness appears to testify during a trial, prosecutors also have the opportunity to question him or her. Depending on the situation and the type of witness, it has long been a common practice for prosecutors to ask a witness if the person who committed the crime in question is present in the courtroom. The witness then points at the defendant and says something to the effect of “That’s him [or her].” It is intended to be a dramatic moment that hits home with the jurors.
Accident Reconstruction Key to Settlement for Crash Victims’ Family
When a crime is committed and law enforcement agencies are not exactly sure how the incident occurred, they will often look to experts to help reconstruct the crime scene and determine exactly what happened. These experts use the available evidence combined with a knowledge of science, mathematics, and human behavior to develop an understanding of what took place and, in many cases, certain characteristics about the suspect.
The same can be done in auto accident situations when investigators are unclear on what happened and which driver was at fault for the crash. Auto accident reconstruction experts rely on physical evidence, information from the vehicles’ event data recorders, and eyewitness reports to determine which vehicles did what and who may be to blame. Thanks to the help of accident reconstructionists, the family of a man killed in last year in a North Canaan crash was able to claim a $5.3 million settlement from the at-fault party.
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