Drunk driver hits me and gets away with no charges.
Asked in Alabama - over 4 years
i was hit by a drunk driver 1 year ago,well to make a long story short,i ended up settling out of court.well come to find out the guy wasn't even charge with a dui and there were witnesses that had been following him before he hit me and he had been going in and out of his lane for about 5 miles.He ended up riding in the emergenacy truck with my son and everyone could smell tthat he was drunk.and i was wondering since i ended up taking a settlement for far less than what it would have been if it was documented the way it should have been.Do i have a case against the police department since they didn't properly document there paper work and still didn't charge him.oh and the state trooper told me that it wasn't his first dui and he wanted to know the status of me and my family so it could present it to the da the next morning,but i found out through the adjuster that he wasn't even charged,and that if it was documented properly the offers would have been much higher.
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Lawrence Eric Taylor
Long Beach DUI / DWI Attorney
1 lawyer agreed with this answer
Brooklyn Immigration Attorney
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First, it's difficult to establish negligence in the performance of investigative duties. Second, most jurisdictions exempt discretionary functions to civil liability. Third, this is a discretionary decision to arrest someone else; discretionary governmental decisions are rarely subject to civil liability. Fourth, you are not the party directly affected; you are only indirectly affected by the possible evdientiary value of a conviction. Fifth, it would be exrtremely difficult to prove that (1) the person would have been convicted, and (2) that conviction would have resulted in a higher civil recovery for you.
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