The witness to your Mesa crash: finding them before memory fades

Busy Mesa intersection at rush hour, the kind of crash scene where a private investigator looks for witnesses

Somebody stopped. After the collision at the light, or the merge that went wrong near the big interchange in east Mesa where the US 60 and both halves of Loop 202 meet (ADOT calls it SuperRedTan), a driver pulled over, said "I saw the whole thing," maybe gave a name to the officer, and drove off. Now the other driver's insurer says you ran the red. That witness may be the most important person in your claim, and you have no idea where they are.

This guide is for you, the person who was hurt or whose car was wrecked. It covers what you can do yourself, when it is worth paying a private investigator, and how long you have.

This is general information, not legal advice. If you were injured, a personal injury lawyer should be one of your first calls.

Today: write it down

Before anything else, write down everything you remember about the people who stopped. The colour and type of their car. What they looked like. What they said. Which way they drove off. Whether anyone was at the bus stop, outside the gas station or filming on a phone.

It feels pointless when you have no names. It isn't. Those details are what anyone looking for a witness starts from, and memory is the first thing to go. A witness talked to a week after a crash remembers the colour of the light. The same person a year later mostly remembers that there was a crash.

This week: the three things that disappear first

Three kinds of evidence fade fast after a Mesa crash, and you can act on all of them.

The crash report. Get the report number and the agency that took it. The report often lists witnesses with whatever contact details the officer wrote down. Sometimes that is a full name and phone number. Sometimes it is a first name and a number with a digit missing.

Video. Shops, gas stations, homes and other drivers' dash cameras may have caught the crash, and much of that footage is recorded over after a short time. If you know a business on the corner has cameras, tell your lawyer straight away so a preservation request can go out.

People. Witnesses move, change phone numbers and stop answering unknown calls. The sooner someone asks them for their account, the better it is.

When a private investigator is worth paying for

If the report lists a witness with a working number, and your lawyer's office can reach them, you may not need anyone else. A private investigator earns the fee when the trail is thin: a nickname, a disconnected phone, a witness who was never in the report, or footage nobody has asked for yet.

Arizona's definition of private investigation, A.R.S. 32-2401, includes investigating the cause of and responsibility for accidents and injuries, the credibility of witnesses, and securing evidence for use in court. In plain terms, what you are paying for is a current address for the witness, a dated statement in their own words, photographs of the scene, and a written report your lawyer can use.

If you already have a lawyer, let the lawyer hire and direct the private investigator. That keeps the work tied to the case and can help protect it as part of case preparation. If you don't have a lawyer yet, it can still make sense to lock down a statement early, but talk to an attorney soon.

What a good one will not do

They will not coach a witness, offer money for testimony, or pressure anyone to say something they did not see. They will not pretend to be police or an insurance adjuster to get someone talking. And they will not record a conversation they are not part of, which is interception under A.R.S. 13-3005. Any of those would wreck the value of the witness and could drag you into trouble.

Questions to ask before you hire

Have you found witnesses in Mesa crash cases before?
What do you need from me to start?
How do you take statements, and will the witness know if it is recorded?
How will you bill, and can we set a limit before you go over it?
Will you write a report my lawyer can use, and testify if needed?

Bring the crash report or its number, the date, time and exact location, any names or partial details, your photos, and a short note on what the other side is claiming.

The clock

Arizona generally gives you two years to file a lawsuit for personal injury, under A.R.S. 12-542, with some exceptions. Two years sounds like plenty. For witnesses it isn't. The longer you wait, the more a search costs and the less often it works.

If the case does not settle, Mesa crash cases over $10,000 go to Maricopa County Superior Court, which handles civil matters at the East Court Building downtown. A witness who can be found, served with a subpoena and put on the stand is worth far more than a name on a report.

If you are the witness

Maybe you are the one who stopped, and now someone is calling about it. You don't have to talk to a private investigator, and you can ask who they work for before you decide. Under A.R.S. 13-3012, a person who is part of a conversation can record it, so if being recorded matters to you, ask at the start. A subpoena from a court is different from a phone call: if you receive one, read it and follow it, and talk to a lawyer if you are unsure.

Where to look

Served & Found does not yet list private investigators based in Mesa, but you can browse private investigators serving the East Valley. Every private investigator listed in Arizona on Served & Found is a member of the Arizona Association of Licensed Private Investigators (AALPI). When a witness needs a subpoena, you will need a process server in Mesa, and our guide on what private investigators do covers the rest. For the city as a whole, see the Mesa page.

If the crash was this month, put the pen to paper tonight. Every detail you remember now is one less hour someone has to pay for later.

See the board: everyone in Mesa.