The blame game in court – it’s not your fault
This year marks our 20th anniversary of fighting for our clients’ rights. We’ve seen a lot during that time, enough to know the tactics defense attorneys like to use again and again—and how to combat them.
In this article, we’re taking a look back at one of our earliest cases to illustrate how the defense often plays the “blame game” in court and how our team works with the families of victims to prepare them for this tactic. In the end, we make sure everyone realizes exactly where the blame is to be placed.
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Tragedy strikes and the blame game begins
1995 – Meredith* and Sam* were motorcycle enthusiasts who loved cruising the open road together. Sam preferred a traditional ride; Meredith opted for the three-wheeled variety. One day out riding, life changed in an instant for the couple. Meredith saw the trouble just ahead. She watched helplessly as Sam’s motorcycle slid out from under him and he was thrown into a guardrail. It happened in seconds. Just like that, Sam was gone, and Meredith lost her partner and best friend.
What she also saw that day was the thin, clear strip of diesel fuel that had leaked onto the asphalt. Because Sam hit the fuel spill first, Meredith was able to avoid it. What she could not avoid, however, was the distressing tactic we see all too often in court: pinning the blame on the victim, thus compounding the tragedy.
It’s not your fault – and we won’t let them say it is
A defense technique. A legal tactic. To the defense, it’s business as usual, and it seems like a sound method of serving their client. To a victim, or, in this case, the family of the victim, it feels like a ruthless personal attack. The worst thing for our clients is the self-doubt it can make them feel.
In the court case we’re revisiting today, the attorneys for the trucking company involved in the spill used this empty tactic to blame Sam for causing his own death. Reasoning that motorcyclists should know they’re riding on two wheels, and that they should not run over liquid on the highway, they argued that Sam knew the risks and took his life in his own hands.
But distracting a jury by wrongly pointing the finger of blame was a strategy we were not going to allow.
The emotions of our team ran high as Sam’s family related what an incredible individual he was. Sam was not a reckless or unsafe man. He had plenty of experience on motorcycles, and his actions that day were ordinary for any rider. In fact, not knowing it was diesel fuel on the highway, Meredith herself intended to drive over the liquid in the seconds before the accident.
When the jury clearly stated that Sam was in no way responsible for his own death by returning a verdict against the trucking company, there wasn’t a dry eye among his family. Sam’s reputation was defended, his family was compensated, and we at Cooper & Elliott discovered that when we take on a case, we become a part of our clients’ family. It’s a role we are immensely grateful to play—and will always take seriously.
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It’s not a game to us
For a defense team that doesn’t have a leg to stand on, pointing the finger of blame is often their best bet. Whether defense attorneys are trying to prove pre-existing conditions are the cause of current medical issues, or they’re attempting to make a case that a victim’s recklessness on the job was the cause of their injury, we recognize these actions for what they are—just legal strategies—and we make that clear to our clients. The blame game is all too common in court, and we expose it for what it is so honest people don’t have to remain victims.
Over the past 20 years, we’ve become personally involved with each and every one of our clients. We’ll continue to do so in the years ahead. We are always on your side when you need us most. Give us a call—we’re here to help.
*Names in this article have been changed to protect our client’s privacy.
The outcome of any client’s case will depend on the particular legal and factual circumstances of the case.
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