One of the things you have to look at obviously is the date of injury, or crime and figure out from the date of occurrence versus when did the courts actually stay the Statute of Limitations. And when did the Statute of Limitations begin to run again, or to see if you can file a motion to have the case thrown out for that reason. But there are other issues that come up that become more problematic. And that’s the passage of time. Oh, and the loss of witnesses. The loss of witness memory and their ability to testify. So we do a lot of investigation, depending on the case, we want to make sure that we’re not refreshing a witness’ memory who’s against us. So we’ll have an investigator talk to them and if they don’t remember anything, then we get that documented in an interview to prove that they don’t remember what happened.
I’ve already had that come up once where all of a sudden the case is now set for an evidentiary hearing and the prosecutor has the witness on the stand and all of a sudden their memory’s perfect crystal clear. And it’s been four years since the incident happened. I had an investigator go talk to him three years ago and after one year they couldn’t remember anything. And then miraculously, they can remember everything. So we were able to really impeach that witness and make them look like they had been prepped, coached, and basically told what to say by the prosecution and the judge did not like it. And that was good for our case.
Hi I’m James Tedford, aka “Ted”. I’m the lead trial attorney at Tedford & Associates and I’m a fourth generation Californian. After suffering an injury at the hands of a negligent party, it may seem simple on the surface to file a claim for damages. Unfortunately, California’s laws are highly complex and can be confusing to navigate for those who are struggling to deal with a sudden injury. You need an experienced advocate on your side who can level the playing field and maximize your chances of success.
If you have been injured in an accident in Pasadena, get in touch with Tedford & Associates today by calling (626) 414-3341.
