Archive for category Colorado personal injury attorney
Manslaughter and Wrongful Death
The legal system in the United States is divided into two different fields. One is criminal law, where crimes are considered to be against everyone and are brought to trial by a representative of the state. For a death, this would be a case of homicide or manslaughter involving the police and the district attorney. There are also crimes against people or property which are handled by civil law. The responsibility of bringing these cases to court lies with those who were wronged. So in a death, the surviving family members could sue the person responsible for wrongful death. The two court systems operate independently of each other, so it is conceivable that a person could be tried for both wrongful death and manslaughter.
Wrongful death cases sometimes have a shorter statue of limitations in some states. Contact your Colorado personal injury lawyer to see what the statute of limitations is and if there is a date of discovery limitation on filing a wrongful death lawsuit. The discovery date laws say that the statute of limitations only starts from the day the crime was discovered. So if the normal statue of limitations in Colorado is 2 years, but a missing person’s body is not found until 4 years later, a Denver wrongful death attorney could still file a claim. The state may have a limit on how long after the fact delayed discovery cases can be brought to trial.
Car accidents and the like that did not involve actual malice or pre-planning would be manslaughter under criminal law. The same person could be tried for negligent wrongful death if they behaved in a irresponsible way that lead to a death. There are also cases of voluntary manslaughter, where the defendant killed on purpose, but in a situation where he was provoked, and it would be reasonable for someone to lose control in that situation. The classic case is the spouse who returns home to find someone else in their partner’s bed and kills them. The defendant killed on purpose, but did so because they were provoked. This is not a defense like self defense, just a slightly lesser crime than homicide.
If the death was a result of reckless disregard (or negligence if it was civil law) but not on purpose then the case might be tried as manslaughter. The Denver personal injury attorney may be able to help with advice in such situations, but you had best get a criminal defense attorney on retainer as well. Depending on the facts of a car accident there could be many different outcomes. A defendant may not be guilty under criminal law, but still be sued under civil law. Or if the defendant acted extremely recklessly on purpose and ran someone over, it could even be homicide.
Car Accidents Caused by Tire or Brake Failure
Posted by denverheat in Colorado personal injury attorney, Denver personal injury lawyer, colorado injury lawyer, colorado personal injury, criminal defense attorney denver, denver accident lawyer, denver divorce lawyer, denver injury lawyer, denver law firm, find a denver law firm, hiring a denver dui attorney, motorcycle injury lawyer on August 22nd, 2010
Accidents Caused by Brake Failure Could be an Intentional Tort
Motor vehicles are some of the most dangerous things out there. Death by motor vehicle is one of the most common forms of death in the industrialized world. Common causes for car accidents are people just spend so much time in vehicles, but also include those who break the law and have poor maintenance.
Cars, trucks and motorcycles share one thing in common when it comes to a Denver car accident. All have all of their weight supported by tires. When you think that only a small portion of the tire is in contact with the ground at all times it will not surprise you to find that over a quarter of all Denver motorcycle accidents come from problems with tires or brakes. If you have been injured in a car crash or motorcycle accident that was a result of damaged or improperly maintained tires, you may have legal recourse to sue.
There could be several different parties that were responsible for the brakes or tires. If you had an injury from a car crash involving failed brakes or tires, the negligent parties could include the driver, brake manufacturer, the mechanic, or the employer of the driver. If it was a truck accident, the trucking company might be liable for and personal injury in Denver.
Because there could be multiple liable parties, each one will probably try to shift blame and get another company’s insurance to pay for the accident. However it is possible to sue multiple parties and it is possible that several people were to blame for the accident. If you are suing multiple people it might be prudent to hire a Denver injury attorney to avoid being caught in the run-around.
If the brake manufacturer was at fault, you have a good chance of being awarded a settlement because of strict laws regarding braking systems. Truck brakes especially are regulated by the federal government to have a certain braking power. If the brakes on the car that hit you does not meet these standards you could claim the manufacturer did not design the brakes well or that there was a manufacturing defect. These kinds of cases fall more under product liability than personal injury.
If the trucking company failed to provide regular maintenance on the brakes you could sue. Some truckers even de-power the front brakes on purpose to reduce the cost of brake replacement. It seems crazy but some truckers would rather use the trailer brakes and the transmission to slow down. Choosing a dangerous thing like unhooking the brakes just for a little cost savings might actually result in an intentional tort instead of a personal injury negligence case. If this happened you could sue both the driver and the trucking company that allowed this to happen.
Keep A Colorado Injury Attorney in your Stack of Business Cards
Posted by hawkeye11 in Colorado personal injury attorney, denver accident lawyer, denver injury attorney, denver injury lawyer on July 28th, 2010
I know the common attitude towards driving is “I won’t get in an accident”, especially in men but the truth is most accidents are not single vehicle accidents. This means a car accident will involve more than one person so even if you think you are the best driver in the world, someone else could cause a car accident that you are involved in.
In 2009, Car accidents cost each American more than $1,000 a year; $164.2 billion is the total cost each year across the United States.
Here are a few more shocking car accident statistics:
- There are more than six million car accidents each year in the United States.
- The leading cause of death for individuals between 2 and 34 years old is motor vehicle crashes.
- A person dies in a car accident every 12 minutes and each year car crashes kill 40,000 people.
- Over 25% of all drivers were involved in an auto accident in a five-year period.
- Someone is injured by a car crash every 14 seconds and about two million of the people injured in car accidents each year suffer permanent injuries.
With this all being said, it is important to know a Colorado personal injury attorney before you find yourself in a four car accident on I-25. If you or a family member is in a car accident and needs to get medical attention you do not want to spend time calling around or researching online for a Denver injury attorney in the state of mind you are in. This is why we recommend you find a personal injury lawyer before you need one. Find one that you are comfortable with, that treats you well and will be there when you need them. Get their business card and keep it in your wallet. You never know when you could be driving down the road and someone blows through a stop sign and t-bones you and your family.
-
-
You are currently browsing the archives for the Colorado personal injury attorney category.
