Help . Filed Charges

[ekim]

i was in an incident in which my life was threatened and i was assaulted by 2 guys, i received a broken nose, and disloacted and fractured foot. had to have surgery. I called the police and filled out a report while i was in the hospital. The police said he would investigate. I have spoke to him and he said he filed all of his paper work and turned it over to the procecuter. I contacted the procecuter and she informed me that she has not reviewed the file yet and will soon.. It has been over a month since this has happened and i tried calling her and the officer and havent gotten a return call yet. I have over 10k in hopital bills and cannot afford to not have charges filed after all i have been through i plan on sueing also for damages. Can anyone help me out here on what i should do here i am very frustrated when the guys who did this havent been arrested yet.

thanks

 

[NYClex]

You got to understand that criminal charges will not help you get your money back. You have to file civil charges against those people. Criminal charges only will get them thrown into jail.

Since you are talking about some serious amount of money you should go to a lawyer and have him file a suit.

 

[ekim]

You got to understand that criminal charges will not help you get your money back. You have to file civil charges against those people. Criminal charges only will get them thrown into jail.

Since you are talking about some serious amount of money you should go to a lawyer and have him file a suit.

thanks for the replay, does criminal charges have to be filed before you can file civil charges? I just figured that would have to be done 1st. I have already filled out a police report im just waiting for the proscutor to decide on the charges. So i should get a lawyer asap for the civil suit and not wait for the polices response. Should i file civil charges against the one who broke my foot or both of them? thanks

 

[ekim]

NYCLEX>?? anyone who can help>??

 

[NYClex]

No, you can file civil charges independently from criminal charges. You can even file civil charges if the public prosecutor for whatever reason would decline to file charges or ddismiss the case against them. Definitions and burdens of proof are different in civil and in criminal charges, so one has nothing to do with the other.

The question who to sue (one or both) you better discuss with your attorney because he can see all the details of the case and counsel you about that decision

 

[ekim]

No, you can file civil charges independently from criminal charges. You can even file civil charges if the public prosecutor for whatever reason would decline to file charges or ddismiss the case against them. Definitions and burdens of proof are different in civil and in criminal charges, so one has nothing to do with the other.

The question who to sue (one or both) you better discuss with your attorney because he can see all the details of the case and counsel you about that decision

Yea our family attorney does not work with these cases im in the process of finding a good lawyer, the one i talked to told me civil cases are tough and sometimes hard to get money out of people which i think is bs. Im gonna try and find a good lawyer who will represent me and then get a percentage of the settlement, what is a respectable percentage that a civil case lawyer should get 20-30%. The one guy i talked to said 40% which seemed awfully high for me. What do ya think NYCLEX. again thanks for your help. Does the outcome of the criminal case have anything to do with the civil court? i am having trouble getting a witness to come forward because he or she is scared for her safety if they testify.

 

[NYClex]

Well, there is one point where the attorney surely was right: you always got to evaluate your chances of ever collecting the judgment before you sue. If tehse guys have no money, all the judgments in the world won't help you. If they have jobs, own property, then you go and sue.

 

[ekim]

well they are in college, im not exactly sure if they have money but they have cars and are in a fraternity. Is it possible to sue them and their family and maybe the fraternity as a whole. ?

 

[NYClex]

You can only sue others for what these guys did if there is vicarious liability or if those others somehow breached a duty of reasonable care.

I don't see any way why the parents should be liable. The fraternity would only be liable if they somehow had a duty of care towards you, like if this happened on land the fraternity possesses or similar. You should consult an attorney if you have any reason to suspect that others might be liable, too. But don't hang your hopes too high, in most cases nobody else is liable.

 

[ekim]

thanks NY,

spoke with the attorney today, he was thinking maybe sueing the insurance company where the incicdent happened if there is insurance on the house. also is there any chance of sueing and making the person pay later when they do get a job??