Witness Statements and Interviews in Georgia Personal Injury Cases

Witness statements in a Georgia injury case serve one main purpose: they fix what a person remembers before memory fades or the person moves away. A statement isn’t sworn testimony, and it doesn’t replace testimony at trial. But it can help prepare a witness, test a later account, and impeach a witness who changes their story. Who took it, and in what form, decides whether the other side can get it and how it’s used.

Who to find, and where to look

Start with what’s already on paper, then widen the search.

Source	Who it may lead to
The police report	Named witnesses, passengers, and officers
911 records	Callers who didn't stay at the scene
A walk through the area	Employees, residents, and regular passers-by
Video review	People who appear on the footage
Medical and EMS records	First responders, and what you said at the time
Your own circle	Family, friends, and co-workers who saw the before and after
Written discovery	The other side's list under § 9-11-26(b)(1) and (e)(1)

Getting the police report and preserving surveillance video are time-sensitive first steps. Damages witnesses count as much as crash witnesses. A co-worker who saw you carry boxes last year, and who sees you unable to do so now, may be more useful than a bystander who saw a blur of cars.

Forms of statement, and what each can do

Form	Strength	Weakness
Interviewer's notes	Fast and flexible	The witness hasn't adopted them, so they won't impeach much
Signed written statement	Witness has adopted the words	Drafted language can sound like a lawyer's
Recorded interview	Captures exact words and tone	The recording may be requested later, including by the witness
Affidavit	Sworn; can support or oppose summary judgment under § 9-11-56(e) on personal knowledge	Limited to admissible facts, and gives a fixed account
Deposition	Sworn, with a transcript usable under § 9-11-32	Needs notice and cost; the other side attends

An affidavit’s main job comes at summary judgment, where a witness’s sworn facts can create a dispute for trial. Before recording a call, have a lawyer check Georgia’s surveillance statutes in Title 16, and the law of any other state where a participant is located. Ask at the start whether the person agrees to be recorded, and keep that on the recording.

Can the other side get the statement?

Under § 9-11-26(b)(3), material prepared “in anticipation of litigation” by a party or its representative, including “attorney, consultant, surety, indemnitor, insurer, or agent”, takes a showing of substantial need and undue hardship. The court still protects “the mental impressions, conclusions, opinions, or legal theories of an attorney”.

Two exceptions matter here.

• Your own statement. A party “may obtain, without the required showing”, a statement it previously made. So if you gave one to an adjuster, ask for a copy.
• A witness’s own statement. A non-party, “[u]pon request”, may obtain that person’s own statement, and if refused may move for a court order.

A “statement previously made” is a signed or adopted writing, or a “substantially verbatim” contemporaneous recording. So a witness can ask for what they signed. Notes in a lawyer’s own words stand in a different position. And the rule protects documents, not facts, so the witness’s name and what they saw can still come out through other discovery.

Using a statement at trial

A written or recorded statement is hearsay if offered to prove what happened. It has other uses.

Use	Rule	Requirement
Impeaching with a prior inconsistent statement	§ 24-6-613(b)	The witness gets a chance to explain or deny, and the other side can question, unless justice otherwise requires
Showing the statement	§ 24-6-613(a)	It needn't be shown to the witness at that time, but "upon request" it goes to opposing counsel
Rebuilding credibility with a consistent statement	§ 24-6-613(c)	Only if it "logically rebuts an attack"
A party's own earlier words	§ 24-6-613(b) excepts party admissions; see § 24-8-801(d)(2)	Usable against that party

That party-admission point is why an adjuster wants a recorded statement from you early. The statement can be used against you, and the insurer’s question list isn’t designed to help you. See negotiating with adjusters. Your uninsured motorist or health carrier may have a policy clause requiring cooperation, so read it before refusing.

Talking to people who don’t have to talk

The discovery rules compel depositions and subpoena responses, and they don’t compel an informal interview. Tell the person who you are and whom you represent, and don’t suggest that you’re neutral if you aren’t.

• Reluctant witnesses. Explain that a short talk may avoid a subpoena later, without promising it. If the person refuses, a deposition under § 9-11-30 with a subpoena under § 9-11-45 is the formal route.
• Employees of a defendant. Lawyers have professional conduct rules on contacting a represented organization’s people, so this is a question for counsel, not a task for you or a friend.
• Treating doctors. Medical privacy law controls these contacts, as the medical records page explains.
• People you know. Don’t script them or discuss what you’d like them to say. Coaching can come out on cross-examination.

A witness living outside the county needs a subpoena accompanied by the witness fee and mileage under § 24-13-25. Georgia also has a procedure for foreign subpoenas in § 24-13-110 and following, for a case pending elsewhere.

Weighing what you get

Ask what the person could actually perceive. How far away were they? What was the lighting? Were they looking at a phone? What’s their tie to either party? Do other witnesses or physical evidence agree? Under § 24-6-621, “[a] witness may be impeached by disproving the facts testified to by the witness”, and § 24-4-408(c) names “bias or prejudice of a witness” as a proper purpose in the settlement setting, so a friendly witness isn’t always the strongest one.

Don’t assume that two matching stories prove a fact. They may have been shared at the scene, or in the weeks after. Note when each person first gave an account, and to whom.

Sources

• Official Code of Georgia Annotated, November 2022 public release: §§ 9-11-26, 9-11-30, 9-11-32, 9-11-45, 9-11-56, 24-4-408, 24-6-613, 24-6-621, 24-8-801, 24-13-25, 24-13-110

This page was last reviewed in November 2026 for general information. Laws and court decisions can change after that date. It is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship.