If the person that was injured in accident fails to reach a settlement with the insurance company of the responsible party, then that injured victim’s case gets decided in court. That means that a jury must determine how much money the court should award that particular plaintiff.
Approach taken by jury when making determination
Jurors study the information that has been made available to them:
• The facts that each of them can remember
• The details that can be found in their notes
• The trial exhibits, which are provided to the group of jurors
After the study of that information, the jury’s attention shifts to the instructions, which have come from the judge. Those instructions tell each juror to apply the law, when making a decision.
First, the jury calculates the economic damages. Then it works on determining the value of the plaintiff’s pain and suffering. Judges often tell members of the jury to consider what would seem fair, if any of them were to end up in a similar situation.
Juries are discouraged from feeling swayed by the influence of their emotions.
Still, most jurors do feel some emotional pull, when deciding on the size of the award for an injured plaintiff. Certain elements of a plaintiff’s case could have a strong effect on the jurors’ emotions, as per Personal Injury Lawyer in Halifax.
A plaintiff’s need to live with a permanent injury could have such an effect. Sometimes the plaintiff, or one of the plaintiffs is an injured child. That can really pull on a juror’s heartstrings.
The presentation of pictures could have a powerful effect on the jury’s determination. If those pictures had been part of a trial exhibit, then each of them would be present in the room where the jurists had to meet, while making a decision. Still, an overabundance of pictures could push the jurors to give greater consideration of what had been written in the law.
If evidence or witness testimony had revealed a lack of veracity in the defendant’s statements, then the jurors’ minds would be filled with memories of the fact that the defendant had lied. That could have an influence on their emotions. Plaintiffs with a pleasant demeanor and those that appear in court along with a family have a strong effect on juries. Such plaintiffs tend to receive a larger award.
The money paid to the plaintiff
Plaintiffs do not always receive all of the money that was awarded by a jury. The judge knows if the plaintiff’s health insurance already provided coverage for the accident-caused injuries. Hence, the judge has the right and ability to deduct the money that should be given to the same health insurance provider, as reimbursement for the payments made earlier.
