Articles Posted in Personal Injury

One of the many roles of judges during a Florida personal injury case is to determine what evidence is admitted at trial as well as which evidence the jury will be permitted to consider during its deliberations. To guide a judge’s decision on these critical issues, lawmakers have enacted the Florida Rules of Evidence.

One of the unique aspects of Florida evidentiary law is the lack of what is known as a dead man’s statute. About half of the states have a dead man’s statute, which prohibits an interested party from testifying about a conversation they had with someone who has since died. The idea behind the rule is that because the deceased person is not present to refute the representations made by the interested party, it is difficult to ensure these statements are false or self-serving.

Instead of a dead man’s statute, Florida lawmakers have included section 90.804(2)(e) to help alleviate some of the concerns the dead man’s statute was meant to address. Under section 90.804(2)(e), written or oral statements that were made by a person who is unavailable due to “death or because of then-existing physical or mental illness or infirmity” can be admitted into evidence. These statements are only admissible, however, if the statement relates to the subject matter of the statement made by an adverse party to the deceased. The phrasing of Florida’s rule is confusing. Simply stated, it allows for the statements of the deceased to come into evidence if an adverse party testifies to conversations with the deceased.

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One of a judge’s primary roles in a Florida personal injury case is to decide which evidence the jury is allowed to consider. It is very common for one or more parties in a lawsuit to present evidence that the other party considers objectionable. This may be because the evidence is claimed to be irrelevant, based on hearsay testimony, unreliable, or otherwise excludable under one of the Florida rules of evidence.

When a party learns of an opposing party’s intention to present evidence, the court may be asked to rule on the admissibility of evidence by the party against whom the evidence is being introduced. In so doing, the court will hear arguments from the parties and ultimately decide whether the evidence should be presented to the jury.

Thus, while the judge in a Florida personal injury case may not have the ultimate discretion to decide whether the defendant was liable for the plaintiff’s injuries, she certainly has an important role to play in the process. Of course, judges are human and can make mistakes. When a party feels as though a judge has made a legal error regarding the admissibility of evidence, that party can file an appeal, assuming the alleged error was properly preserved at trial.

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All Florida personal injury cases must follow certain procedural rules in order to be properly heard by a court. In most cases, court procedural rules are jurisdictional, meaning that a party’s failure to comply with a rule deprives the court of the jurisdiction – or power – to hear the case. Thus, when certain rules are not followed, Florida courts have little discretion but to dismiss the case.

One of the most troublesome procedural rules in Florida personal injury cases is the statute of limitations. Essentially, a statute of limitations sets the time by which a plaintiff’s claim must be filed. While there are certain exceptions, in Florida, most personal injury cases must be filed within four years of the plaintiff’s injury. For Florida medical malpractice cases, the case must be filed within four years of the alleged act of negligence.

Of course, there are exceptions to these general rules that can extend the amount of time an accident victim has to file their claim. For example, if a plaintiff’s injury is not discovered until a later date, the statute of limitations may be determined to have begun at the time the plaintiff discovered their injury, rather than at the time the injury occurred.

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When someone is injured due to the reckless, intentional, or negligent conduct of another party, they may be entitled to monetary compensation from the at-fault party through a Florida personal injury case. Depending on the circumstances surrounding the accident, the severity of the accident victim’s injuries, and the defendant’s level of culpability, an accident victim may be entitled to one or more of several types of damages.

Types of Damages in Personal Injury Cases

The most common and straightforward type of damages in a Florida personal injury case is compensatory damages. Compensatory damages are designed to restore the plaintiff back to the situation in which they were prior to being injured. Of course, courts cannot go back in time and make a plaintiff “un-injured,” so instead courts estimate the costs that have been incurred by the plaintiff in the past and estimate the plaintiff’s expenses moving forward. Thus, compensatory damages include award amounts for medical expenses, lost wages, and the pain and suffering endured by the accident victim as a result of the defendant’s conduct.

In some cases, punitive damages may be awarded in a Florida personal injury case. While the purpose of compensatory damages is to make the plaintiff whole again, the purpose of punitive damages is to punish the defendant for especially egregious behavior and to deter others from engaging in similar conduct. Due to their nature, punitive damages can be quite substantial; however, they are only available in limited circumstances.

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