Caught on video! Gotcha- How it can ruin your injury case

Learn how surveillance video can destroy your injury or malpractice case. In some cases, it might even help your case. Gerry Oginski, an experienced medical malpractice & personal injury trial lawyer practicing in Brooklyn, Bronx, Queens, New York, Staten Island, Nassau & Suffolk explains. For more info: http://www.oginski-law.com

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[hughforik]

Before I became an attorney I used to be a private investigator. I did lomng term deep cover as well as in field stake outs. The next thing you know my reports and photos end up in the polygrapher's office and your client is in the waiting room!

Very good advice once again, Gerry.

Assume you are always being filmed and recorded especially now with the cost of portable videocams.

[lawmed1]

@hughforik Thanks Hugh!

[WeHugTrees2]

That really didnt answer the Q. I do know that evidence that one intends to use must be shared with the other party prior to being presented in a court.

But what if they seek evidence, but find out the evidence they obtain is not favorable to their side. Are they under any obligation to share their findings?

[lawmed1]

You raise excellent questions. In New York, if the defense hires a private investigator and obtains video footage that they intend on using at trial (to try and show contradictions between what the injured victim has claimed and what the video shows) then they are obligated to notify us that they have the tape and must produce a copy for us to see prior to trial.

Gerry

[WeHugTrees2]

Is there anything that legally obligates the opposing counsel to notify anyone that they had attempted to gain video evidence. Does counsel have to obtain permission from anyone to get video? If not, then nobody would know they tried to get video evidence and if that video evidence they got fails to prove claimant is lying, then they would have no reason to ever let anyone know they got the video footage in the first place.

[WeHugTrees2]

What would obligate the release of video evidence by the opposing counsel should that video evidence prove a client was unable to do the things they claimed to be unable to do?

[WeHugTrees2]

I understood you to say that if the defense believes a claimant is lying, they can send a PI to obtain video evidence attempting to show claimant is lying. You also stated (paraphrasing) that if the video evidence shows the claimant is telling the truth then that would benefit the claimant.