A 44-year-old cyclist is dead after a tragic accident occurred on North St. Mary’s near Central Catholic Highschool, in downtown San Antonio earlier this week. The 44-year-old woman was on her bicycle in front of the highschool waiting for the rest of her riding party to arrive when a speeding car swerved off of North St. Mary’s without warning and struck her. The driver of the vehicle continued driving for half a block after hitting the cyclist, but then stayed at the scene until officers arrived. Officers administered a field sobriety test on site, and determined that the driver was intoxicated. The 24-year-old has been charged with intoxicated manslaughter. Her bond is set at $50,000. The victim’s identity has not yet been released.
Wrongful Death Claims in San Antonio
If you have lost a loved one due to an accident caused by someone else’s negligence or recklessness, it can feel infuriatingly unfair in addition to completely up-ending your life. A wrongful death lawsuit aims to make you financially whole again after this kind of accident. While nothing can make the pain of the accident go away, a wrongful death claim at least means you no longer have to carry the financial consequences of it.
Criminal Court vs. Civil Court
Wrongful death claims are brought through the civil court system, which is completely separate from the criminal court system. If you lose in criminal court, you may go to jail, whereas if you lose in civil court, you may need to pay an award to the injured party, but there are no possible criminal consequences. These processes are not mutually exclusive, but rather, support one another. While the criminal court system focuses on punishing and rehabilitating the offender, the civil court system focuses on restoring the victim. You can press criminal charges and go through the criminal system while also bringing a personal injury or wrongful death lawsuit to recover for your damages.
It is important to know that the bar for succeeding in civil court is much lower than it is in criminal court. In order to win in criminal court, you must demonstrate your case beyond a reasonable doubt. That means that you have to prove your case to the point that not even one juror has doubts about it. However, in civil court, you must only demonstrate that your set of facts was more likely to have happened than not. A civil court jury need only find that there is a 51% or more chance that things happened the way you say they did in order to find in your favor. This means that you could lose in criminal court and still succeed in civil court. Additionally, if you win in criminal court, you are almost certain to succeed in civil court.
Talk to a San Antonio Personal Injury Lawyer
If you or a loved one have been seriously injured as a result of another’s negligence or recklessness, you do not have to bear the burden alone. The experienced San Antonio Personal Injury Lawyers at the Law Office of Eric Ramos are here to help. Call today to schedule your free consultation and find out how. There’s no fee until we win.