When a drunk driving accident leaves you injured, you may naturally hope that the at-fault driver pays for their actions – both through a civil claim and in criminal court.
What happens, however, if their criminal drunk driving case is dismissed or they’re acquitted at trial? What if the authorities drop the charges (or never even file them)?
None of these events prevents a civil claim
A criminal drunk driving case and a personal injury claim may arise from the same event, but they’re entirely separate legal proceedings. The outcome of one doesn’t necessarily determine the outcome of the other.
Criminal cases have a much higher legal standard of proof than civil claims. Prosecutors generally must prove a criminal charge “beyond a reasonable doubt.” By comparison, a claim of negligence in a civil personal injury case must only be “more likely than not” true to succeed.
While a criminal conviction can be powerful evidence in a related civil case, it’s not necessary to prove a driver was somehow responsible for a crash. It may not even be necessary to prove they were impaired. Instead, evidence that they were speeding, weaving in traffic, ignoring traffic signals and tailgating can all be used to make a case for negligent behavior. Police reports, officer observations, bodycam and dashcam footage and witness statements can all be useful.
Drunk driving cases are dismissed all the time for procedural reasons or dropped for evidentiary issues. That doesn’t put compensation out of reach for your medical expenses, property damage, lost wages, reduced earning capacity, pain and suffering and more. The absence of criminal charges or a failed prosecution does not have to mean that a personal injury claim against a drunk driver will fail.