How do I find out if there are witnesses?

[pup08]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Virginia

I was in a car accident where I am being charged. I need to know if there were any witnesses, and if they gave a statement to the police or exchanged information with the other driver. How can I go about finding if there are witnesses? I have a copy of the police crash report, but it doesn't look like it includes any witness statements. However, I am only allowed to have "my side" of the crash report, so I don't know what the other driver's report says.

Should I contact the police and/or insurance companies to find out if there are any witnesses?

Thanks

 

[Mass_Shyster]

I was in a car accident where I am being charged.

What exactly are you being charged with?

 

[Zigner]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Virginia

I was in a car accident where I am being charged. I need to know if there were any witnesses, and if they gave a statement to the police or exchanged information with the other driver. How can I go about finding if there are witnesses? I have a copy of the police crash report, but it doesn't look like it includes any witness statements. However, I am only allowed to have "my side" of the crash report, so I don't know what the other driver's report says.

Should I contact the police and/or insurance companies to find out if there are any witnesses?

Thanks

Were you the driver coming around the corner, or were you the driver that failed to yield?

In either case - let your insurance company handle this - that's what you pay them for.

 

[CdwJava]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Virginia

I was in a car accident where I am being charged. I need to know if there were any witnesses, and if they gave a statement to the police or exchanged information with the other driver. How can I go about finding if there are witnesses? I have a copy of the police crash report, but it doesn't look like it includes any witness statements. However, I am only allowed to have "my side" of the crash report, so I don't know what the other driver's report says.

Should I contact the police and/or insurance companies to find out if there are any witnesses?

Thanks

When/if you are charged with a crime, you will have the opportunity to request discovery. This discovery should include copies of reports, statements, and a list of witnesses the state intends to call to testify against you.

If charged with an offense that allows you access to a public defender, you can request one at arraignment. if this is a civil matter or a trivial offense that does not result in jail time, the laws of your state may not allow you access to a public defender so you will have to hire one yourself or do it on your own.

 

[pup08]

When/if you are charged with a crime, you will have the opportunity to request discovery. This discovery should include copies of reports, statements, and a list of witnesses the state intends to call to testify against you.

This is just a traffic ticket - an infraction. Is there more information than just the police crash report? So I should file a discovery request with the courts?

let your insurance company handle this - that's what you pay them for.

How would they handle this? I still have to either prepay the fine or go to court. I'd rather go to court and hope for the best. How can the insurance company help? They've been total a-holes this entire time.

 

[CdwJava]

This is just a traffic ticket - an infraction. Is there more information than just the police crash report? So I should file a discovery request with the courts?

You would file it with whomever the laws of your state say it must be filed with. Here it is generally the prosecutor's office or requested from the agency issuing the citation. You would have to review the laws in your state to know for sure.

 

[Zigner]

How would they handle this? I still have to either prepay the fine or go to court. I'd rather go to court and hope for the best. How can the insurance company help? They've been total a-holes this entire time.

I thought this was for the civil matter.

But, from this response and from your other thread, I can deduce that you were the driver charged with failure to yield at the stop sign. From your description of the incident you were at fault and the ticket is righteous.

 

[FlyingRon]

There seems to be some confusion here as to whether we are talking about a civil matter or a criminal one. If you're talking about a civil issue, let your insurance company deal with it. If they want information the plaintiff has, they can discover it. If they want information others have (like the police), they will need to get a subpoena (if the other parties won't give it up as a matter of request).

If you're talking about a criminal charge (like reckless driving variants or DUI), you can request discovery on any information they intend to use against you or information about witnesses that may be exculpatory to you, but it would really behoove you to have a lawyer. If they charged you with one of the non-criminal violations (careless driving, failure to yield, etc...) you're options are a bit more limited. Further, you have to evaluate whether you want to take your chances with you against the police officer (these days most GDC's do NOT routinely summons the "not at fault" party to testify against the at fault party as a matter of course...used to be some idiot ran a stop sign and hit you YOU had to go to court to testify against him). Also if you bring a lawyer in, the commonwealth will reciprocate and bring in the Commonwealth's attorney to prosecute your case.

So, write back and tell us exactly what you're facing if you want a decent answer.