Low-Cost Demonstative Evidence (Continued from page 7)
charged dearly for these items when they were inserted, so they remain the client’s property when they are removed. If you need an aerial photograph, Den-
nis O’Brien has found a company from West Virginia that will provide aerial pho- tographs for less than $100.00. When I need an aerial photograph of the scene, I usually go to the county or city’s land use planning office. The County zoning of- fice will usually have large aerial photographs or Mylars which will cost anywhere from $1.00 to $3.00 per sheet. The Mylars are not as good quality-wise as aerial photographs, but they are cheap. Sometimes you have to cut and paste sev- eral Mylars together to show the full extent of the roadway you want depicted. These Mylars can then be mounted and profes- sionally labeled for less than $100.00. In one case we wanted to show the four mile stretch of roadway where the defendant jumped in his car and initiated a hot pur- suit of two teenagers who had “flipped him the bird” while driving past his house. The main reason for this piece of demon- strative evidence was to show the great distance traveled and the outrageous na- ture of the defendant’s conduct. Witnesses testified that the cars were speeding in excess of 80 miles per hour (a portion of which was in a 25 miles per hour zone). The aerial Mylars clearly showed that the high speed chase pro- ceeded through several residential neighborhoods exposing other pedestri-
ans and children to extreme danger. This was an intentional tort so the jury was able to award punitive damages. Stuart M. Salsbury reminded me that the defendant’s deposition can be used “for any purpose.” Stu routinely blows up a page or two of the deposition tran- script where the defendant has made an especially stupid or concessionary com- ment. This blown up deposition page is used in opening statement, if possible, during the trial and again in closing, re- emphasizing for the jury the damaging statements from the defendant’s own mouth. Robert R. Michael prepared a model for less than $500.00 in a boat hatch re- pair case that he tried two years ago. The liability issue was whether the safety clip which held up a hatch cover had been re- placed by a maintenance man following certain repairs. In order to focus the jury away from the small clip which was no bigger than the size of a dime, Bob had a full scale replication of the boat hatch made by a metal fabricator with the exact dimensions, type of metal, carpet cover, etc., as was on the boat. The model was identical in all details. Bob was then able to demonstrate to the jury starting with opening statements the affect of leaving the safety clip off which was to allow an unrestrained (80 lbs.) hatch cover to slam down with terrific force. Because the dis- tance between the descending hatch cover edge and frame edge was so small, it acted like a guillotine. Unfortunately for the owner of the boat, his hand and finger were caught between the unrestrained
descending 80 pound hatch cover and the frame resulting in the loss of the tip of his finger, the development of RSD and the loss of his career as an oral surgeon. Bob’s strategy in using this model was to get the jury to look at the consequences of leaving off the safety pin rather than looking at how easy it was for the work- men to overlook or forget to replace the safety pin. The success of Bob’s strategy was confirmed when the jury returned a verdict of over 8.2 million dollars prov- ing that low cost demonstrative evidence can be used in big cases.
Photographs
No article on demonstrative evidence would be complete without a discussion on photographs. A photograph may con- stitute the highest form of eloquence. According to an old Chinese proverb, “a picture is worth a thousand words.” To be more professionally precise, a picture can be worth thousands, if not tens of thousands of dollars, to your client. De- spite the potentially large impact on the verdict, photographs remain one of the cheapest, most effective pieces of demon- strative evidence. To that end, every plaintiff ’s attorney should keep a camera in their office or car or both. Start with a photograph of your client and put it on the inside flap of your client’s file. I explain to my clients that while I have had the pleasure of meeting them face-to-face, my secretary, paralegal or other staff who might be working on their case have not had that opportunity. The client photograph is a useful reminder for us that these cases are not just files with clear liability or questionable liability with so much money in specials. These cases involve real people, with real injuries, who need real good legal representation. A picture of your client is a ready reminder to you and your staff that this file repre- sents a tragedy that has befallen another human being.
This small gesture costs
little in the way of time or money, but may demonstrate to your client that you genuinely care about them as a person. A photograph of the client has other practical benefits. You can send the pho- tograph with your demand package to the insurance carrier to help humanize the claim, if not the claim representative. A photograph of your own client can also be used during an interview by you or your investigator of witnesses or health care personnel. I have encountered treat- ing physicians (and lawyers for that matter) who do not know their patients very well and would not recognize them on the street or in the courtroom without
8 Trial Reporter Spring 2001
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