Metrocard To The Rescue
We have written about how the New York City Transit Authority has taken to request claimants in personal injury suits produce the Metrocard that they used to board a bus or enter the subway system at the time that their accident occurred. It just happened in one of our cases yesterday morning. This past week it was reported that a murder suspect used his Metrocard to establish his alibi - that he was not present at the location of the murder. Jason Jones was arrested, along with his brother, in a fatal shooting in the Bronx in May. He told the police that he had been nowhere near the scene. He said he had left work, ridden the bus with some co-workers and cashed his paycheck, and later had taken a subway to see his girlfriend.Federal prosecutors charged Mr. Jones and his older brother, Corey, in the shooting, saying they had killed the victim because he had been a government witness in drug and gun cases. Both men could face the death penalty. A detective working for Mr. Joness lawyers retrieved his Metrocard and then asked New York City Transit to use the card to trace his movements the night of the shooting. The results supported Mr. Jones' account, showing that the card had been used on a bus, and later on a subway roughly five miles from the shooting, just as he had described. In an unusual occurrence in a murder case, Mr. Jones and his brother have now been released on bail while the investigation continues. In our case, our client's Metrocard is helpful to establish that she was in fact a passenger on a NYCTA bus because she was injured while getting off the bus and the bus drove off before she could report the accident to the bus driver. In addition, the information on the Metrocard will positively identify the bus driver involved and prevent the Transit Authority from denying that it can identify its driver. This will enable our office to name the driver as a defendant in the lawsuit and to take his deposition. If you were injured in an accident involving public transportation and need a personal injury lawyer to navigate your way through the legal labrynth, contact the offices of Levine & Slavit. For 50 years spanning 3 generations, we have obtained results for satisfied clients. We have offices in Manhattan and Long Island, handling cases in New York City, the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and surrounding areas. To learn more, watch our videos.