Proving a TBI
The evidence that a lawyer typically wants in a traumatic brain injury case is similar to the evidence they would need in any injury case with a few exceptions. A person can have a serious traumatic brain injury without being in a car accident that resulted in a huge amount of property damage, however, showing that there was property damage can help prove a claim.
It is also important to gather any possible evidence of loss of consciousness, meaning evidence proving you blacked out at least for a few seconds immediately following the impact. That evidence is especially important from the doctor’s perspective because it can help diagnose a traumatic brain injury.
Altered mentation is evidence that shows a person may have suffered a traumatic brain injury. This is usually proven by having the person describe whether they were dazed and confused or experienced memory loss. The most typical memory loss is a person remembering everything up to the moment of the impact and then, often, their memory stops there and they do not remember anything until being in the ambulance or in the emergency room.
A lawyer will also typically look for whether there are other physical injuries besides the head injury. If a person also has a broken arm, a broken leg, or some other major orthopedic injury, it is easier for the jury to understand that if the force of the impact was enough to cause physical injuries, it can also result in a traumatic brain injury.
Collecting Evidence in Virginia Beach
The sooner an attorney is able to go collect evidence, the better the outcome of the case may be. As soon as a person hires a lawyer, they will send a letter to the responsible party asking them to preserve all evidence related to the crash. It is critical to get that information, as it could end up helping not only prove what the responsible party did wrong caused the TBI but also will help the lawyer get through more full and fair compensation.
Another example of evidence that has to be secured as soon as possible would be any video evidence. In Virginia Beach, many police cars have dashboard cameras. In addition, many police officers wear body cameras that are mounted on their uniform. That can be tremendously important evidence to show exactly what happened and may even capture how the person who suffered a traumatic brain injury was acting right after the wreck.
If there is not a letter or proper Freedom of Information Act request or other request made to the police promptly, important evidence could be lost. That is one of the reasons why it is important to reach out to an attorney as soon as possible.
An Attorney Can Help Preserve Evidence in a Virginia Beach Traumatic Brain Injury Case
It is important to act quickly to preserve evidence in a Virginia Beach traumatic brain injury case. Otherwise, important evidence could be lost. To get started on your case, call Cooper Hurley Injury Lawyers today for a free consultation.
