The sudden death of a loved one can throw you for a loop emotionally and financially. Whether it was a road rage incident or the result of gun violence, the senseless killing of a loved one will leave you angry and depressed.
One thing that any personal injury lawyer in Los Angeles will recommend is filing a lawsuit against the person who caused the death of your loved one. A wrongful death suit can be filed in situations where someone’s negligence or intentional acts caused the death of a family member, whether the death was the result of an accident or murder.
You may be wondering how a wrongful death lawsuit works in comparison to a murder trial. Wrongful death lawsuits, along with any other kind of personal injury suits, are based around damages and the results are normally court-mandated financial restitution and behavioral modifications. A murder trial is a criminal matter that will result in jail time.
Because they are different areas of law, civil and criminal charges do not impact each other, giving you the option to file a wrongful death claim against someone who has not been arrested or convicted of murdering your loved one. You can also file a wrongful death claim against a murderer in the event they are convicted and sent to jail.
Even if the person was found innocent in a court of law, your wrongful death lawsuit still has hope. This is because the burden of proof for civil convictions is lower than criminal convictions.
For example, an unsolved California mystery involves the hanging death of Rebecca Zahau. After her boyfriend’s son was severely injured and hospitalized under her watch, Zahau was found hanging from her boyfriend’s mansion balcony under mysterious circumstances. Many expressed doubt that Zahau would have been able to tie the sailors’ knots that bound both her wrists and ankles. The only other person in the mansion that night was her boyfriend’s brother, a sea captain. While there have been no criminal charges in Zahau’s death, her family was able to win a $5 million wrongful death settlement against her boyfriend’s brother, Adam Shacknai.
If you believed that someone caused the death of your loved one and needs to be held accountable, contact a wrongful death attorney in Los Angeles. They can help you make sure the guilty party is held accountable for their actions.
