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Accidential Death Lawsuites Allowed Back To The Introduction Of The Law

By: Bob McGuire

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Not very long ago, when a person's actions caused another's death either through murder or something like negligence, the claims for damages died with the person. To combat this problem, the bench began allowing the tort of wrongful death.

Wrongful death is an action brought by a victim's family or estate against the character that caused his or her death. It is an action designed to compensate the family of the victim for the lost wages, companionship, and other losses that are brought by means of the person's death.

Part of the driving force for a wrongful death claim was that the old way of doing things, where there was no claim if the individual died, left a guilty party free of retribution of some sort if the person died. This was seen as not the best state of affairs because, it was the thought, that this could be seen as encouraging loss of life. As long as the injured party died, a being could get away with everything.

In the 20th century, the laws were changed. Now, the estate of a individual can bring charges against the person accountable for the death of their loved one, even if the person is not convicted of murder. A person will be tried in a criminal court and next in a civil court for wrongful death. There is no problem with double jeopardy because the lawsuits are not the same. Also, one trial is for a criminal action and the other is a civil action. As such, now there is no double jeopardy conflict. At the same time, a person who is not found to be accountable in a wrongful death action can't be repeatedly charged by way of this tort. The equivalent applies for a person found not guilty of murder.

In order for a soul to be found guilty of a wrongful death action, that person should have committed some sort of negligence or done something else to cause the death of the individual. The damages awarded can be punitive or compensatory and are designed to let the family to continue life, as much as possible, without their loved one. Obviously, no damages can bring a mother or sister or brother or child back but the damages given are meant to ensure that the family does not undergo as much of an economic loss.

Why record a civil claim when death has been purposely caused? The truth is, civil and criminal courts rely on different standards of evidence. Criminal courts necessitate that the defendant be demonstrated guilty beyond reasonable doubt. Civil courts require a preponderance of the evidence, which means that the majority of the available evidence points to the responsibility of the defendant. At what time a guilty person is declared not guilty by a criminal court, wrongful death lawsuits allow the victim's family another chance at seeing justice done. One famous example of this is the civil lawsuit filed against OJ Simpson by the Brown and Goldman families in 1997. Simpson was found liable for the death of Ronald Goldman, although he had earlier been found blameless in a criminal court.

Article Source: http://depositarticles.com/

Bob writes for wrongful death attorney michigan and michigan wrongful death lawyer and michigan wrongful death act

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