Request ffor help from anyone with legal expertise.

[Scuba]

My non-scientific observation is that when big business, and businessmen are caught in a crime, they are not indicted, but instead are sued.

Can someone please expound on the implications of this?

[dixiegrrrrl]

1. NOt sure what you are pointing at , but....

The big banks, for instance, have been "sued" by SEC, FDIC, other regulatory agencies, which is a civil matter, carries no criminal penalties. They get sued, a "confidential non-disclosure" agreement is reached as part of the settlement, they pay a fine that amounts a teensy % of the ill gotten gains, other wise there is no inconvenience for them.
Essentially everyone plays a game of financial musical chairs, when someone is "caught" they pay a small tax, then proceed to play the game again. No incentives to be honest is the result.

Criminal charges would carry a fine and other more serious penalties, but traditionally have never been used for
the real crooks in finance, unless someone was set up as an example or sacrificed when public outcry grew too loud.
Recently Holder announced the Just-Us Dept. would not prosecute Mozillo, despite the fact Mozillo had already been found guilty of fraud in the civil suits.

The implications are that the message gets delivered: the game is rigged, the rich get away with murder, the "system" is,at best, hypocritical, at worst totally dishonest, and for some strange reason we put up with it.

[Scuba]

2. Is it correct that once a suit is settled, they become immune to criminal charges? ....

...or is that a Justice Department decision?

[Geoff R. Casavant]

3. No, it's not true.

The civil and the criminal cases are usually pursued simultaneously, and the decision to move forward with each of them is usually made by different departments.

[Scuba]

4. OK, so....

Is it my perception that when THEY commit a crime, THEY get sued, but when WE commit a crime WE get indicted?


Or do I just have a persecution complex?

[Modern_Matthew]

5. Sounds about right to me. nt

[robdogbucky]

6. Civil lawsuits hit people where they hurt most and the theory of damages

usually mandates some quantifiable damage, and that is usually easiest to interpret into monetary damages. The courts deal with those types of damages most often in civil cases, although there is another form of relief, injunctive relief. That is when an order will suffice to end the damage, like when a company is enjoined from drilling because it has been proved that said drilling will kill people, and an order or injunction puts a stop to their drilling, etc.

It is most frequently the way to establish a judgment by a court either through damages decided by a jury or the judge if it was a bench trial. Your question seemed to address economic crime by white collar purpetrators, and in that sense there is usually only money damages, hence no physical damage that would give rise to the more common forms of physical damages like in an assault.

Indictments are criminal actions. A district attorney sues in criminal court representing the state or the people. His remedy is most frequently jail time for a guilty verdict. The defendant is usually arrested, not served with a complaint like in the civil actions. Indictments are also frequently products of grand jury investigations.

It is sometimes very difficult to prove criminal offenses in civil disputes, in other words, how was the person damaged? It is usually a monetary award because the damages were not of a physical nature resulting from an attack like in an assault. That is what happens in fraud cases and fraud I think is the most common way people get bilked for their money. Fraud comes the closest to being a criminal action that I can think of in the civil realm. Environmental damage is usually pled in the form of some kind of violation of state law, like in pollution cases against chemical companies. Interesting that words can sometimes constitute a form of assault and libel suits are not common but can be effective in achieving judgment for a civil offense of libel, that is actually in some cases a verbal assault.

Lawsuit is just a name for a process. Most common lawsuits are for money damages. One hires a private attorney willing to represent, and then they file and serve a civil complaint against the defendant(s). Then if necessary a trial takes place, but no one goes to jail as a result of a civil lawsuit. There is the exception of one's attorney behaving badly and being found in contempt of court and then thrown into jail, but I digress.

Indictment is a charging document, usually the result of a grand jury and usually involves criminal charges. The choice of how to charge a defendant in a criminal action resides with the prosecutor, usually a district attorney, usually asked to bring a criminal charging document or indictment against someone complained about that has allegedly committed a crime and harmed someone. The document usually invokes some section of that state's criminal code, hence the term "charging document," "with counts..." The damage is usually not hard to prove in a criminal indictment, but the burden is on the prosecutor to prove responsibility or guilt and the remedy by the state is usually a jail sentence. That is his job. Criminal. To get money for the damage inflicted?, then civil lawsuit is the vehicle for that.

Clear now?

BTW, I am not a lawyer, nor have I ever been to law school, nor did I stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night.

If this does not answer your question, then just call the bar association and ask for a referral for a consult, or go to a law library and research these things. The law library librarians are some of the best-informed and generous with their time and knowledge in helping non-legal folks find answers.

But I did work in law offices and witnessed many lawsuits and trials as a litigation specialist/paralegal for 30 years.


What brought this on?


Just curious


rdb

[dixiegrrrrl]

7. No complex, just a good grasp of reality.

:hi:

[Geoff R. Casavant]

8. Actually, I think they tend to get both

Think of Ken Lay and Jeff Skilling, or more recently, Allen Stanford -- all had civil and criminal cases proceeding simultaneously. Usually the deeper the pocket, the more likely there will be a civil suit regardless of whether there will be a criminal suit.