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This issue, Marjory Harris reviews some really bad movies.


The Case of the Disappearing
Video, or “Injured Worker
Working, The Movie”


I waited patiently for defense
counsel to appear at a deposition
with the Agreed Medical Evaluator.
The adjuster had told me the
purpose of the deposition was to show surveillance videos to the
AME. When defense counsel
arrived, I asked where the
equipment was. “What equipment?”
he asked. “Aren’t you showing
videos?” I asked. “No, I just had a
few questions of the doctor about
his report.” He then went on to ask
some questions that could have
been addressed in a supplemental
report. Later he as much as
admitted that when the insurance
company’s legal department saw
the video, on the day of the
deposition, they realized they had
to bury it.

Entrapment
Does the video prove the private investigator violated the law? The investigator is an agent of defendant.

Injured Worker’s Declaration


It was the oddest video I had ever been sent. It began with a man sitting on his
desk in an office with tacky wood paneling. He was wearing a beret and
sunglasses and facing the camera. “This is [Name Changed], private investigator
operating out of Fresno, California, license number [007].” He states that the
videotaping will begin at around 10:00 a.m. and "will run until done. All times and
dates on the videotape are accurate."

In the next scene, we are on the streets of San Francisco, on a steep hill with the
Bay glittering in the sunlight. The man in the black beret and sunglasses is now
standing by his truck, talking with Injured Worker.

Next we see Injured Worker gingerly wiping the truck with his good arm. The bad
arm is in a sling. Note that Injured Worker has never denied that he is trying to
establish a small business detailing vehicles. He is not receiving either temporary
disability or state disability. He had told his doctor and the AME that because of his
bad arm, it takes him so long to detail a vehicle that he cannot make a living doing
this, as he had planned to before the industrial injury.

After some minutes showing Injured Worker slowly polishing the side of the investigator's truck, the film abruptly ends.


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Smoking Gun

“War stories” relating a personal experience
with finding evidence or indisputable proof
("smoking gun") that won or lost a case. Let
others learn from your victories or mistakes.
Send your story to Marjory Harris at mharrislaw@earthlink.net
> Analyzing Surveillance Videos
> Remembering Barry. J. Williams
> Interview with Frederick George Craw
> Interview with Steve Chapman
> Smoking Gun