Georgia Injury Lawyer Blog

Our firm is currently representing a victim of a very serious tractor trailer collision which occurred on an interstate highway in South Georgia. In this particular collision, four people were killed and numerous other people seriously injured as was our client. We had the privilege of handling wrongful death cases on behalf of two families involved in this tragedy and those cases were resolved by means of settlement and compromise. While we were representing these families, we were contacted by another person (our current client) who also had been involved in the collision. He lives out of state. This person was unfamiliar with the Georgia statute of limitations and had not filed a lawsuit within two years. Here in Georgia, the typical statute of limitations for a personal injury claim is two years from the date of the occurrence. However, effective July 1, 2005, the Georgia Legislature passed a new law which tolls the statute of limitations for tort actions involving victims of alleged crimes. This new provision, little known to members of the Bar and not yet interpreted by any Georgia Court, is found at O.C.G.A. § 9-3-99. It reads in pertinent part as follows:

The running of the period of limitations with respect to any cause of action and tort that may be brought by the victim of an alleged crime which arises out of the facts and circumstances relating to the commission of such alleged crime committed in this state shall be tolled from the date of the commission of the alleged crime or the act giving rise to such action and tort until the prosecution of such crime or act has become final or otherwise terminated, provided that such time does not exceed six years.

When we were contacted by this out of state client (after 2 years had passed) concerning his serious injures which arose out of the same collision where our other two clients’ family members were killed, we decided to help him if we could. We filed a lawsuit on his behalf alleging that he was entitled to the “victims rights” benefits of O.C.G.A. § 9-3-99.

The truck driver involved was charged by the authorities with four counts of Vehicular Homicide. His employer, the trucking company, has filed a Motion to Dismiss our client’s case on the grounds that the new victim’s rights statute is allegedly unconstitutional and should not apply to a victim such as our client because he was not specifically named as a victim in the criminal charges filed against their driver. Of course, we contend that this is completely preposterous because our client was as much a victim as were the others, the only difference being that he survived his serious injuries whereas the other four victims were killed.

There is a good reason for the Georgia Legislature to toll the statute of limitations with respect to victims of criminal offenses committed in this state. When the authorities investigate a criminal offense that might also be the basis of a civil tort action against the offender, the victim is prejudiced because the authorities will typically not release to the victim or their representatives any information concerning the underlying investigation until the investigation is terminated. Indeed, the Open Records Act is specifically not applicable to open criminal investigations. Thus, as here, if a truck driver is under investigation for Vehicular Homicide, none of the victims of his acts can typically get access to the District Attorney’s file and cannot get access to the investigator’s file until the prosecution is terminated. In recognition of the impact of a criminal investigation on victims and their families, the Georgia Legislature decided to toll the statute of limitations during the pendency of any criminal investigation until “the prosecution of such crime or act has become final or otherwise terminated.” Rather than indefinitely tolling the statute, the Georgia Legislature, as part of this Bill, enacted a statute of repose which stated that “in no event should the statute exceed six years.” Thus, the rights of the victims are preserved and the rights of the authorities to effectively prosecute the offender was not compromised.

We were honored to represent two different families of the victims of this tragedy and were pleased that we were able to amicably resolve those wrongful death claims. Now, we are in a position where the trucking company who hired this dangerously negligent driver is seeking to dismiss the claims of yet another victim of this tragic collision by claiming that he is “not a victim at all.” Of course, the language of O.C.G.A. § 9-3-99 specifically states that any cause of action in tort that may be brought by the victim of an alleged crime “which arises out of the facts and circumstance relating to the commission of such alleged crime committed in this state” shall benefit from the tolling language of the statute. Thus, we believe that the trucking company’s attempt to declare this statute unconstitutional is not only directed at our single client but at all victims throughout the state because if the trucking company is successful in attacking this piece of legislation, their efforts will affect all victims of crimes throughout Georgia. For obvious reasons, we plan to vigorously defend our client’s rights and the rights of all victims of crime, particularly those victimized by trucking companies who injure others due to criminal acts of negligence committed in this state. We will file further postings on this blog as soon as we can report (as we are confident we will report) that the Court has overruled the trucking company’s challenge to this important victims’ rights legislation.