If I was involved in a accident and the head injuries I sustained made it so I couldn’t understand what was going on, can my statements be used against me?
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If I was involved in a accident and the head injuries I sustained made it so I couldn’t understand what was going on, can my statements be used against me?
I hit a curb with my motorcycle and was thrown about 40 feet onto a curb and up against a guard rail. There is a statement where I allegedly said I admitted to drinking a few mixed drinks but I didn’t. I don’t have any memories before I was a the second hospital for some time. My blood was examined and alcohol was present but I feel I was so incapacitated by the accident that I feel my rights may have been violated. I mispronounced some words for a couple days following due to bleeding in my brain
Asked on August 8, 2011 Rhode Island
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
Legally, statements made by a party to an accident can be used against him or her, whether in a criminal mattrer or a civil one (e.g. in determining liability and insurance coverage). If you truly lacked mental capacity at the time you made those statements, it *may* be that you can exclude them, though that is a high hurdle to get over--it's enough that you were somewhat impaired; rather you must have lacked effectively any judgment or control over what you said. Furthermore, the most you could accomplish would be to exclude the statements themselves--the test results, showing alcohal, could still be used against you. And finally, note that even if you can exclude the statements, there was no violation of your rights if you voluntarily made them (and rights violations aren't even germane to a civil action, such as for liability, anyway), so again, you can't get a whole case thrown out--just the statement(s) excluded.
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