This is the second in a series of articles about the Dead Man's Act. “The purpose of the Statute is to prevent the injustice that may result from permitting a surviving party to a transaction to give testimony favorable to himself and adverse to the decedent, which the decedent's representative would be in no position to refute by reason of the decedent's death.” Weschler v. Carroll, 578 A.2d 13, 15 (Pa. Super. 1990). Since David Edwards is unable to testify as to the events just prior to his being run over by defendants’ tractor-trailer, a great injustice will result if defendant, Nicolas Pinger is permitted to testify adversely to David Edwards. Similarly, defendant must not be permitted to offer expert testimony regarding the collision between defendants’ truck and the decedent based on information provided by defendant, Nicolas Pinger. Such testimony would be impermissibly based on information barred from evidence by the “Dead Man’s Act”.
Defendants should be precluded from offering any trial testimony regarding the collision between defendants’ truck and the decedent from defendant, Nicolas Pinger because such testimony is barred by the “Dead Man’s Act”. Similarly, under the “Dead Man’s Act”, defendants should be precluded from offering at trial any expert testimony regarding the collision between defendants’ truck and the decedent based on information provided by defendant, Nicolas Pinger.
Although the Act is most frequently applied in estates cases, it is also applicable to preclude testimony about the circumstances of an accident with a decedent. See Lyons v. Bodek’s Estate, 142 A.2d 199 (Pa. 1958); Weschler, supra. Defendants in personal injury cases commonly assert the protections of the Act to defend actions brought against a decedent. If a negligent motorist can escape liability for inflicting injury, certainly the Act is available to assist the estate of a deceased in seeking compensation under the Wrongful Death and Survival Acts.
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Evan Aidman is the founder and principal of the Law Offices of Evan K. Aidman. Mr. Aidman received a Bachelor's Degree in psychology from the University of Florida where he was elected to the Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society after compiling a near perfect scholastic record. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, an Ivy League Institution, in 1983.
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