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Criminal And Civil Lawyers Occasionally Handle The Same Case

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Generally, criminal law and civil law don't intersect on the same case. They both deal with the law, but they cover different aspects. However, there are some times when they do intersect when criminal and civil law can be used on the same case. One of those times is during a wrongful death suit. 

Criminal Case

A wrongful death case can come from a murder case. If a suspect kills someone, they are arrested and put on trial. The prosecutor tries to get the jury to find that person guilty, the defense lawyer tries to make sure that their client gets off from the charge. 

In the criminal case, the burden of proof is on the prosecutor. They have to prove that the accused did the crime, beyond a shadow of a doubt. If the jury has any doubt that the accused did it, they can find the accused not guilty, and that person won't go to jail. 

Civil Case

When it comes to the civil case on a wrongful death suit, if doesn't matter if the accused was found guilty or was acquitted. A person who was found not guilty in a criminal case can still be sued in civil court. One reason for this is that the burden of proof is different. Instead, of the plaintiff having to prove beyond the shadow of a doubt that the accused killed someone, they have to prove that there is a reasonable case against the defendant. The defendant also has to prove that they had nothing to do with the wrongful death of anyone. 

Criminal Lawyer vs. Civil Lawyer

Generally, the same lawyer won't work both the criminal and the civil case. The accused will need a criminal lawyer while they are on trial for murder. The two lawyers may consult with each other during each of their cases. That way each lawyer has all the information on both cases. That will allow the lawyers to make sure that their defenses don't contradict each other, and that each defense is optimized for that particular kind of law. For example, there may be some things that are much important to the criminal case, and if the civil lawyer is aware of those facts, they can pass them to the criminal lawyer. The criminal lawyer can do the same thing. That strengthens both cases. 

While civil and criminal law generally handle two different things, they do occasionally intersect on the same case, even if that case goes to two separate courts. Click here for more information.


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