Civil or Criminal
A client called the other day asking me if I could put someone in jail. The simple answer is no. As a car crash and personal injury lawyer the remedy I procure for clients is monetary damages. This includes pain and suffering, lost wages, medical bills reimbursement, economic damages, and punitive damages. All of those damages involve money. However, there is a criminal aspect to some cases I handle. This blog post discusses the two different types of cases.
Prosecution
In a criminal case the defendant is prosecuted by the Commonwealth. This means prosecutors handle the case for Kentucky. Technically speaking, the prosecutors do not represent the victim, but they are required to consult with the injured or harmed party. When I was a prosecutor it was a delicate balance of protecting the interests of the state, my official job, and making sure that the victims felt someone was working on their behalf to ensure justice.
Criminal Restitution
The way to get money from this portion of the case is called criminal restitution. In my opinion its merely a piece of paper saying the defendant must pay money. This restitution is problematic. It is often $20 dollars a week for an extended period of time. The real punishment for the defendant is serving time in jail/prison or other government punishments like fines or a suspended license.
Civil Damages
Right now I’m working on a case where the defendant was DUI and hit my client. The prosecution is trying to put the defendant in jail (which they should). They are handling that aspect of the case and I cannot tell them what to do. I can help them in procuring information and expressing the wishes of my clients regarding punishment.
Where I come into play is the civil aspect. My clients were severely hurt by the negligence of the drunk driver. I will recover monetary damages from the insurance companies and the personal assets of the defendant. This is the civil portion. I file a lawsuit for damages or negotiate pre-litigation with the insurance companies to get money. They money is designed to put my client back where they would have been had the drunk driver never caused the crash. We don’t live in a society that allows eye for an eye and have developed the civil system as a means to compensate the injured party.
There are other differences but the easiest way to think about it is:
criminal = jail and civil =money
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