Sunday, January 24, 2010

After criminal charges are filed Can the victim still file a civil case?

If criminal charges were filed and dismissed (a misdeamonr). Can the victim still file Civil charges to regain loses?After criminal charges are filed Can the victim still file a civil case?
Sure of course you can file a civil suit against a person criminal charges are filed against. However, you still have a statute of limitations issue to deal with so you must make sure that you have timely filed suit in your civil case.





Remember the burden of proof in a criminal case is beyond a reasonable doubt, which is the highest burden of proof. However, in a civil case the burden of proof is preponderance of the evidence which is a much lower burden of proof standard necessary to prove ones case.





Just because the burden of proof was not proved in a criminal case lets say (I know you said the criminal case in your example was dismissed) that does not mean in a civil suit that the proof would not be met. Think about the O.J. Simpson case were the criminal case said he was ';Not guilty'; (which does not mean he was innocent but only the evidence against him was not proved to the juries satisfaction beyond a reasonable doubt. However, in the civil suit brought against Mr. Simpson he was subsequently found responsible and liable for the deaths of Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson. The standard of proof was lower in the civil case.After criminal charges are filed Can the victim still file a civil case?
Yes. Criminal and civil cases are 2 separate things. You may have a civil cause of action despite the criminal case being dismissed.
Definitely....most do if the perpetrator has any money.
yes because burden of proof is much lower.
Yes.





The burden of proof in a civil case (preponderance of evidence) is less than in a criminal case (beyond a reasonable doubt).





This is why OJ Simpson was found not guilty in criminal court for murder, but liable in civil court for wrongful death.
Absolutely. An individual can file any type of lawsuit they wish. It's ultimately up to the Judge or a jury to decide if the case is a valid one. There are motions that can be filed in order to have a frivilous lawsuit dismissed, but anyone can file anything they wish as long as it is in the proper format and venue.
Simple answer: yes.

No comments:

Post a Comment