An Amish man named Smith was injured when he and his horse were struck by a car at a rural intersection.
Smith later sued the driver. In court, he was cross-examined by the driver’s lawyer:
Lawyer: “Mr. Smith, you’ve told us all about your injuries. But according to the accident report, you told the investigating officer at the scene that you were not injured at all. Isn’t that true?”
Mr. Smith: “Well, I’ll tell you…”
The lawyer interrupted: “Just answer the question. Did you not say at the scene of the accident, ‘I’m fine!’.”
Mr. Smith: “Well, yes.”
The lawyer should have quit at that point. However, he went on: “Well then, why are you wasting this court’s time and my client’s money with this frivolous law suit?”
Mr. Smith: “Let me explain. At the accident, I was thrown out of the carriage and my horse was knocked into the ditch. My leg was broken and I didn’t want to move.
I could hear my horse groaning and thrashing and I knew she was in terrible shape just by her groans.
When the officer arrived at the scene, he first looked at my horse. He said ‘Looks like she has a broken leg,’ and then he took out his gun and shot her.
He then came up to me and asked me how I was doing. Suffering from the same injury as my horse, I of course immediately said ‘I’m fine!’.”