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Excuse me, we're talking about Small Claims Court --- not Supreme or Criminal Court. There is a huge difference.
In Small Claims Court in NYS, you can provide paperwork, reports, photos, recordings, etc. If there was a police officer called the day of the accident and both parties agreed not to pursue the matter though their insurance companies and the person at fault admitted fault and agreed to pay the person, the cop could write this in their report and you can bring it as evidence to court and the court will use it to determine whose story is more believable (yes, in civil/small claims, it's only a matter of who is more believable and not "beyond a reasonable doubt" as in criminal court)
its 100% true,,,, had it done to my buddy...... absolutely no report can be used without the cop. judge said it was heresay..
Seems that the judge knew who she was talking to and knew she'd get away with it.
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Anyone is free to change, alter or recant their story as a police report is not a sworn or marandized statement... your free to say you know when i got home and was a little more relaxed i realized more clearly what happened , bingo changed story
And there's also something called "spontaneous statements" which are typically made without the party being Mirandized or advised of his/her rights and are typically made in response to a question. These are admissible in court and if someone makes a spontaneous statement to a police officer as he is taking the report, it can be admitted into court.
You can't make a statement to a cop, go home, talk to someone else, realize you're in deep doo-doo and then decide to change your story.
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think about it, if you had said you didnt cause the accident to the cop does that mean you didnt? of course not.... you talk he writes...
We're talking about this instance. In this instance, the person who hit her admitted fault, said she didn't want to go through insurance (because she had none), and said she would pay. Had the OP called a cop to the scene, this could have all been put in writing by an unbiased third party (the cop) and been admitted into a Small Claims action.
Excuse me, we're talking about Small Claims Court --- not Supreme or Criminal Court. There is a huge difference.
In Small Claims Court in NYS, you can provide paperwork, reports, photos, recordings, etc. If there was a police officer called the day of the accident and both parties agreed not to pursue the matter though their insurance companies and the person at fault admitted fault and agreed to pay the person, the cop could write this in their report and you can bring it as evidence to court and the court will use it to determine whose story is more believable (yes, in civil/small claims, it's only a matter of who is more believable and not "beyond a reasonable doubt" as in criminal court)
sorry but it applys to small claims court too...we expierienced it first hand.... all i can say is hopefully you would NOT have to find this out one day for yourself in a case.... your assuming it dosnt apply but it does belive it or not... want to hear it from a lawyer practicing in ny for over 20 years?
There's a piece of this situation that you neglected to address. Under NYS Vehicle and Traffic Law, if the damage to any one vehicle involved in the accident exceeds $1000, all parties are required to file a NYS accident report. (That's not a police report; its a separate NYS DMV form filed individually by the operator of each vehicle involved.) Failure to file the report is misdemeanor and can result in license and/or registration suspension.
For those who seem to believe that a police officer cannot file an accident report without being on the scene, that is simply not true. Any person involved in the accident having all the pertinent information can present themselves at a police precinct and have an official police report filed on the accident. The report will note that the accident was not investigated at the scene and that the report was filed after the date of the accident with information provided by one or the other (or both) parties. Most insurance companies will require a police report in order to initiate a claim, especially if other vehicles are involved.
Better brush up on your law.... nys law cplr 4518 forbids police reports without the officer seeing the accident or testifying in court
Court Ruling
In order to render a decision, Judge Lindley reviewed CPLR 4518(a) which states a police report is admissible as a business record when the officer who completed the report was a witness or the person who provided the information for the report was under a duty to impart such information to the officer, (Johnson v. Lutz, 253 NY 124 [1930]; Prince Richardson on Evidence Section 8-307 [Farrell 11th ed]).
Here the officer who completed the report did not witness the collision and the person who provided the information contained in the police report was not under a duty to do so, wrote Judge Lindley in the decision for the court. Thus, the report is not admissible under the business record exception to the hearsay rule (Holliday v. Hudson Armored Car & Courier, 301 AD2d 392 [1st Dept. 2003]; Mooney v. Osowiecky, 235 AD2d 603 [3d Dept. 1997]; Nahrebeski v. Molnar, 286 AD2d 891 [4th Dept. 2001]).
I think you need to re-read the law yourself. CPLR 4518 deals with the certification and authentication of records. It never even mentions police officers and certainly doesn't prohibit them from taking reports. The guiding law for the reporting of accidents in New York State is the NYS Vehicle and Traffic Law. The court decision you cited -- which is not law -- simply says that in a particular case, a particular report (in this case an accident report) was not admissible in court because the accident was not witnessed by the officer.
99.9 % of the accident reports written by police officers are for accidents they've never witnessed. If the report is taken at the scene, the officer investigates the circumstances of the accident, including statements made by the vehicle operators and witnesses, and makes a professional judgment about what caused the accident. That is so noted on the report.
There's a piece of this situation that you neglected to address. Under NYS Vehicle and Traffic Law, if the damage to any one vehicle involved in the accident exceeds $1000, all parties are required to file a NYS accident report. (That's not a police report; its a separate NYS DMV form filed individually by the operator of each vehicle involved.) Failure to file the report is misdemeanor and can result in license and/or registration suspension.
For those who seem to believe that a police officer cannot file an accident report without being on the scene, that is simply not true. Any person involved in the accident having all the pertinent information can present themselves at a police precinct and have an official police report filed on the accident. The report will note that the accident was not investigated at the scene and that the report was filed after the date of the accident with information provided by one or the other (or both) parties. Most insurance companies will require a police report in order to initiate a claim, especially if other vehicles are involved.
If two months have passed most likely the Police will not write the report.
As for the Insurance company requiring the report..that is what the insurance company would want you believe since it makes their job easier. Insurance companies still have their own investigators regardless if a report was done or not. What insurance companies do require to hasten their investigation is contact with both parties. If they cannot contact vehicle#2 it can hold up any relief that they would provide.
Instead of posting here why don't you just pick up the phone and call your local precinct.They would be glad to answer any questions that you may have.
sorry but it applys to small claims court too...we expierienced it first hand.... all i can say is hopefully you would NOT have to find this out one day for yourself in a case.... your assuming it dosnt apply but it does belive it or not... want to hear it from a lawyer practicing in ny for over 20 years?
I don't need to hear from a lawyer who'se practiced for over 20 years.
The laws that govern Small Claims actions are dramatically different than those that cover Supreme and Criminal Court. You may have "experienced it firsthand" because you (or your friend as you stated in your other post, so it's NOT first hand experience on your part) went into Small Claims court as a novice, did not present correctly, the judge knew this, and did what he/she had to do to get rid of the case quickly.
I've been in Small Claims court recently, went in with all my papers in order, every "T" crossed, every "I" dotted, had everything I needed to back me up, presented my case as a professional. Guess what? The cases ahead of mine that were similar to mine? Those people LOST because they didn't come to court knowing what they had to know or doing simple research or presenting simple evidence. I went up, the judge was VERY impressed (at first chuckled, but then realized who he was dealing with). I not only won my case, but he tossed my opponent out of the courtroom on his ear.
I think you need to re-read the law yourself. CPLR 4518 deals with the certification and authentication of records. It never even mentions police officers and certainly doesn't prohibit them from taking reports. The guiding law for the reporting of accidents in New York State is the NYS Vehicle and Traffic Law. The court decision you cited -- which is not law -- simply says that in a particular case, a particular report (in this case an accident report) was not admissible in court because the accident was not witnessed by the officer.
99.9 % of the accident reports written by police officers are for accidents they've never witnessed. If the report is taken at the scene, the officer investigates the circumstances of the accident, including statements made by the vehicle operators and witnesses, and makes a professional judgment about what caused the accident. That is so noted on the report.
yes thats exactly what cplr 4518 deals with, it deals with the accepting of business records as evidence ... but if you scan the many many cases in new york you will see with few exceptions that police accident reports are labled exceptions to the rule and are not accepted.... they are labeled as heresay... infact i couldnt find any cases where the judge said he would accept an un-certified report for statements given at the scene other then for the officers obeservance of injuries, and damages
while all sorts of documents are acceptable , text messages, recorded phone calls , letters etc the one document rarley accepted except on judge judy is the good ole police report ....
they arent admissable because being a form of official document they are mostly heresay and the courts have felt that the document can sway a jury more then any other business records even though its all heresay as to what people state...... while parts of it may be relevant to certain cases such as the officers observances such as injuries, the condition of the cars, intoxicated etc the actual mechanics of the accident and who was at fault unless a violation was given and convicted is deemed all heresay... key word is convicted violation... even if a violation was given at the scene unless a conviction followed again the report isnt admisable as to guilt ....
just google cplr 4518 and see all the info and cases where the police reports are not allowed as well as general statements as to them not being admissable in any courts in ny..
better yet find me something that says they are...
There's a piece of this situation that you neglected to address. Under NYS Vehicle and Traffic Law, if the damage to any one vehicle involved in the accident exceeds $1000, all parties are required to file a NYS accident report. (That's not a police report; its a separate NYS DMV form filed individually by the operator of each vehicle involved.) Failure to file the report is misdemeanor and can result in license and/or registration suspension.
For those who seem to believe that a police officer cannot file an accident report without being on the scene, that is simply not true. Any person involved in the accident having all the pertinent information can present themselves at a police precinct and have an official police report filed on the accident. The report will note that the accident was not investigated at the scene and that the report was filed after the date of the accident with information provided by one or the other (or both) parties. Most insurance companies will require a police report in order to initiate a claim, especially if other vehicles are involved.
the police report and accident report are used by the insurance companies because there are certain open and shut kinds of accidents.... right of way, hit in the rear etc... judgement is based soley on certain principals that make a case easy..
but others like traffic lights, merging into lanes or stupid stuff where you may be stopped at the light and the person in front of you has the car in reverse and hits you although now he got hit in the rear and you the front are all cases where its a tough call.... thats when you end up in court and thats when those reports are no longer admisable,,,, in my buddys case a guy tried to make a right turn from the left lane of queens blvd , didnt see my friend next to him and hit him... at the scene the cop asked the other guy how it happened...he said the turn came up quick , he didnt see my friend and hit him........ sounds simple enough for my friend to collect....
my friend gets a denial from the other guys insurance company ... the other guy changed his whole story and said my friend hit him, he realized it later on when he got home and calmed down and was able to think more clearly,... can you believe this crap....in fact my buddy is now being sued by the other guy who is now claiming my friend made a left turn into him....
so off to small claims court they go....easy case , i went with him and he has the police report where the other guy already said he hit him...
thats when we were blindsided with the report not being a business record under cplr 4518 along with all the citings of the cases that make it such and for a while there it looked like my buddy may actually loose.... the photos eventually seemed to sway the judge that it looked more like the other guy hit my friend but ill tell tell you it was looking pretty bad for him for a bit.... the lawyer that my friends insurance company sent was even surprised that the judge wouldnt look at the report and at least question as to why the story changed but the judge just kept saying that it wasnt admisable and she couldnt even read it ....
one thing i learned about court is despite what we all think and the way things should be, going to court can be one enlightning expierience about why we need lawyers as nothing is ever as easy as it looks on the outside.... as a landlord in nyc for over 20 years i can write books about some of the outcomes of my dealings in court with tenants and how little twists and nuances of laws just blow you away ....
Last edited by mathjak107; 04-18-2009 at 02:42 AM..
yes thats exactly what cplr 4518 deals with, it deals with the accepting of business records as evidence ... but if you scan the many many cases in new york you will see with few exceptions that police accident reports are labled exceptions to the rule and are not accepted.... they are labeled as heresay... infact i couldnt find any cases where the judge said he would accept an un-certified report for statements given at the scene other then for the officers obeservance of injuries, and damages
while all sorts of documents are acceptable , text messages, recorded phone calls , letters etc the one document rarley accepted except on judge judy is the good ole police report ....
they arent admissable because being a form of official document they are mostly heresay and the courts have felt that the document can sway a jury more then any other business records even though its all heresay as to what people state...... while parts of it may be relevant to certain cases such as the officers observances such as injuries, the condition of the cars, intoxicated etc the actual mechanics of the accident and who was at fault unless a violation was given and convicted is deemed all heresay... key word is convicted violation... even if a violation was given at the scene unless a conviction followed again the report isnt admisable as to guilt ....
just google cplr 4518 and see all the info and cases where the police reports are not allowed as well as general statements as to them not being admissable in any courts in ny..
better yet find me something that says they are...
Let me say this again...you're confusing case law and statutory law. There is no prohibition against officers preparing reports. In anything but small claims court, an officer would most likely be subpoenaed to verify the details of the report he prepared. However, if he didn't witness the accident, he can only testify as to what the operators and witnesses told him and what his independent observations and conclusions were (ie, skid marks, location of damage, weather conditions, etc.).
I certainly hope that you're not basing all of your "legal"conclusions on what Judge Judy says. Next you'll tell me that you know all about police investigations because you're a regular viewer of CSI.
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