How Do You Prove the Other Driver was Driving Drunk in Your Accident Case?
Let’s say you’re in a car accident, and based on the negligent driver’s behavior, you’re pretty convinced that he or she was drunk, or driving under the influence. How do you prove that?
You didn’t exactly whip out a breathalyzer test for the other driver to take after the accident happened. So if you suspect that the driver who caused the accident may have been drunk, how do you go about demonstrating that in your personal injury case?
The Criminal Drunk Driving Case
A criminal conviction or plea of guilty to a drunk driving charge can help demonstrate that the other driver was under the influence at the time of your accident. But often that doesn’t happen; drivers often take plea bargains, or get their DUI case dismissed.
Just because there is no actual DUI conviction, doesn’t mean that you, in your civil injury negligence case, can’t show that the other driver was driving drunk. In fact, you have an easier path to doing that in your civil injury case, than the state would have had in the criminal case, because your burden of proof in an injury case is less (or easier than) that in the criminal case.
So on your own, in your injury case, what evidence can you find or use to show that the other driver was driving drunk at the time of your accident?
Social Media – Many people post on social media, about social events, and those events often involve drinking or alcohol. Getting access to someone’s social media posts and pictures from the days before and after the accident, may reveal that the driver was, in fact, drinking.
Credit Card Statements – You are allowed to ask for credit card or debit card receipts from the other driver. These receipts often reveal that the driver was at a bar, or a restaurant where he or she purchased alcohol, which can be powerful evidence of intoxication.
Police Report and the Arresting Officer – If there was an arrest for drunk driving—even if that arrest ultimately went nowhere in criminal court—there’s probably a reason why the officer arrested the driver. The officer probably observed telltale signs of intoxication, and perhaps even gave the other driver a field sobriety test or breathalyzer, which you can obtain and use against the other driver, in your trial.
That officer can be called to testify in court, and if he or she was wearing a bodycam, that footage can be used by your injury attorney in trial as well.
Medical Records – If the other driver went to the hospital after the accident, the hospital likely drew blood, and those blood tests may reveal the presence of alcohol. With court permission, you can compel the hospital to provide those records to you.
Text Messages – People often text, thinking that somehow, their texts are private. But you can ask a court to compel the defendant to hand over text messages from before the accident. Both the content of these texts and the grammar or wording of the texts, can be used as evidence that the other driver was drinking before the accident.
If you were injured by a drunk driver, do you know how to prove your case? Ask us how. Call the Boston personal injury lawyers at The Law Office of Joseph Linnehan, Jr. today at 617-275-4200 for help with your DUI injury car accident case.
