Yes, its not talked about a lot, but a defendant in a criminal case can in fact receive restitution in certain cases, under certain circumstances, and of course, in certain states.
A police officer by the name of Troy Meade was tried on a murder charge and was found not-guilty this week. He was accused of shooting a man that was in a car drunk. Now that he was acquitted of the murder charge, it will now be decided if he should received restitution to pay for his legal fees. Under Washington State's law, the only situation where a jury can give compensation to a murder defendant is where they make a finding during the criminal trial that the defendant acted in self-defense, which they did in Meade's case. In these situations, the accused the jury also considers court expenses and the time that he/she lost in fighting the criminal charge. Its interesting to note that its the same jury that decides the criminal case that then decided the compensation, in a separate proceeding. If you think about it, that only makes sense as the same jury would have been in a position to see and hear what the defendant went through.
In what will turn out to be yet another proceeding, the family of the victim, the deceased that is, has filed a $15 million law suit for wrongful death against the city of Everett. The law suit accuses Meade of using excessive force. It sounds strange to sue for wrongful death after a person has been found not-guilty in the criminal trial. Maybe this reminds you of a case from a few years ago in California? Yep. That is exactly what happened to O.J. Simpson. After Simpson was acquitted at his double murder trial, he was sued by the families and this time he was found liable for the death of the two victims, which resulted a verdict of millions of dollars, most of which has never been collected. The most significant reason for the success of these civil suits is the difference in what is called, the Burden of Proof. In a criminal case the burden of proof is Beyond a Reasonable Doubt. Yet in a civil suit, the burden of proof is called Clear and Convincing, which is a easier burden to overcome.
A very long time ago here in Myrtle Beach a very similar situation occurred. The case was tried in Conway and the defendant was found not guilty. The victim's family alleging that the victim's rights were severely violated brought a lawsuit against Horry County, Myrtle Beach and the State of South Carolina seeking compensation for the victim's families. The victim was allegedly shot after a car accident. Attorneys for the defendant at the trial for the crime were successful in defending the case and he was not found guilty. Lawyers in the law suit argued excessive force and wrongful death in the shooting. Often police are in situations where no one is around and they have no choice but to shoot in order to defend themselves, which is what the jury found to be the case in this action. There was eventually compensation for the victim's family, as a suit was filed by an attorney in Conway from the Myrtle Beach accident for Personal Injury and again Wrongful Death seeking damages. All of these suits are based on negligence and also has a lower standard of proof. Since the man died so quickly after the accident there was not a huge claim for pain and suffering, but a claim nevertheless. A jury will usually feel sympathy whenever someone dies for obvious reasons.
