Legal Question in Personal Injury in Missouri

A person ran a red light and I T-boned him. He was not insured, his vehicle totalled and he claims back injuries. He's sueing me personally since my insurance company wont pay him out. My questions is, although I was not under the influence, a marijuana pipe not belonging to me and I was not aware was in the car was found. It did not contain any illegal substance. The police officer ticketed me and destroyed the pipe. This informaiton was not included in the police report. If the plaintiff brings the police officer in to testify and the officer discusses this, even though it was destroyed and not included in the police report, could the judge rule in favor of the plaintiff? Could my insurance dorp me upon knowledge of this? To avoid this scenario,should I hire an attorney myself, instread of my insurance company providing me with theirs.?


Asked on 6/01/10, 7:47 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Anthony Smith LawSmith

The questions you have asked, are fact specific. you are nto able to provide enough facts here to answer whether the judge woudl ruel against you in the civil suit by the other driver. The answer to the question "could he rule agaisnt me?" is Yes. Motor vehicle cases are comparitve negligence issues. The question will be, did the running of the red light cause mroe of the other drivers injuries or did your having paraphenalia cause it. although yrou insure will hire and pay the attorney to represent you, they still represent you. If you do not want the insure to know about the pipe, tell your attorney that. Defense counsel are for the most part very good, But, sometimes some of them need to be reminded that they represent their client, not their cleint's insurer. Under the facts you have described, it seems strange that an attorney would take the plaintiff's case to trial. Are you sure that everyone agrees that the other driver ran a red light?

Good luck

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Answered on 6/01/10, 11:10 am


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