If you have a smartphone, you can use it to your advantage after a personal injury case. The evidence you collect on your smartphone and how well you can preserve it can help your case. Considering how receptive the courts are to digital evidence now, you must know how to save and preserve evidence with your smartphone.
What Kind of Smartphone Evidence Can Help Your Case?
After an accident, it is not surprising for individuals to assume that every piece of evidence they can lay their hands on will be helpful. “While gathering all the evidence is sometimes advised, you should know that some pieces of evidence are more important than others,” says Jeffrey P. Lowenthal of Lowenthal & Abrams, Injury Attorneys. With smartphones, some evidence you may want to pay the most attention to includes:
- Captured Moments from the Scene
Immediate photos of an accident scene are one of the most vital pieces of evidence needed for your case. When capturing the scene, focus on both a wide-angle and close-up view of the exact location, as well as any potential weather or lightning conditions present at the time. If any damage occurs to your vehicle or other property, be sure to take a picture. Finally, do not overlook any surface conditions or visible injuries that may have resulted from the accident.
- Message and Call Details
Another piece of evidence that can help your personal injury claim is text messages or call logs. Any message you send to someone about the gravity of your injury or from the other party apologizing or admitting fault can be helpful to your case. Other messages or calls received from eyewitnesses, insurance representatives, or medical providers should also be saved.
It is not enough to save these messages; you should also ensure that a backup is in place for retrieving them if they are lost.
- Video Recordings of Dashcam Linked to Phone
If your car has dash cams that were installed and paired with your smartphone, retrieving the footage to your smartphone can help your claim. If other people at the scene made video recordings, you should speak to them and obtain the videos before they are deleted.
What Are Effective Ways to Protect Your Smartphone Evidence?
Collecting evidence on your smartphone is the first step in the process. You also have to know how to protect evidence collected, and some strategies include:
- Back Everything Up to the Cloud or a Secure Drive
Do not rely solely on your phone’s memory, as it can become corrupted or go missing. Instead, back up your photos, messages, and videos to the cloud or a secure physical drive.
- Do Not Delete Anything Without Consulting Your Attorney
Deleting information, even unintentionally, can affect your claims. In Pennsylvania courts, this can result in sanctions, reduced credibility, or even dismissal of your claim in severe situations. If you have something on your phone that could harm your case, consult with your attorney first. From dealing with similar cases, they will know how to handle it legally and strategically.
- Lock Your Phone with a Strong Passcode
Always ensure that your phone has a secure passcode, especially if it is collected as part of the discovery process, which sometimes occurs. Attorneys can fight to limit access, but a strong passcode ensures that your privacy is not breached without proper legal procedure.
Conclusion
Physical witnesses play a huge role in personal injury, and that is why parties always do all they can to get them. However, in this digital age, we are already seeing the role that digital evidence plays in personal injury cases. Evidence collected on your phone, unlike physical witnesses, does not forget, exaggerate, or succumb to pressure.
However, how you collect and protect evidence on your smartphone is vital to its use. Be thorough in collecting and careful with protecting it. Additionally, refrain from sharing evidence from your smartphone on social media while your case is still ongoing. If you become confused about smartphone evidence at any point, it is advisable to consult with a personal injury attorney in Pennsylvania.
Also Read: The Evidence That Can Win Your Truck Accident Case
