Can you use evidence of a ticket at a car accident trial?

Can you use evidence of a ticket at a car accident trial?

Florida District Court of Appeal of Florida,

First District.

VANTRAN INDUSTRIES, INC. for the use etc., et al., Appellants,
v.
RYDER TRUCK RENTAL, INC., etc., et al., Appellees.

It is very difficult to provide the Jury with evidence that a car accident victim got hit by someone who received a ticket at the car crash accident scene. As you can see in the above, car accident attorney that are not skilled in the art of trial work can prejudice their client's by making mistakes as indicated below.

These are all things that when said in car crash trial in Court will cause a mistrial.

1. Witness implied in response to a question from his lawyer that the appellant had received a traffic citation as a result of the collision between the two parties.

2. Attorney who advised the jury during opening statements that the investigating highway patrolman talked to everyone who was at the accident scene, stated, " ‘I think the evidence will show that no one claimed that [the appellee] had anything to do with this accident at the scene of the accident.' "

3. Testimony that "we don't have no ticket for that accident," notwithstanding the fact that the trial court instructed the jury to disregard the comment

4. Investigating officer's affirmative response to the attorney's question of whether any traffic citations had been issued as a result of the parties' collision

5. Attorney's opening statement that "[n]o citations were issued" following the parties' collision

6. the witness's negative response to his attorney's question of whether he had been cited for a traffic violation following the parties' accident and concluding that the question and answer were highly improper and prejudicial and that the harm was not cured by the trial court's instruction to the jury);

7. Lawyer answered "[u]nfortunately, yes, Your Honor," when asked in the jury's presence if the parties agreed that what happened in the traffic court was of no concern to the jury in trying the personal injury case, given that counsel's remark had the effect of indicating to the jury that the appellant had been cited for a traffic violation connected with the parties' accident).

It is very difficult to provide the Jury with evidence that a car accident victim got hit by someone who received a ticket at the car crash accident scene. As you can see in the above, car accident attorney that are not skilled in the art of trial work can prejudice their client's by making mistakes as indicated above.