Whenever a crime happens under the Criminal Code, there’s a corresponding civil action. These are some of the types of claims for a crime victim:
Assault: putting someone in fear for injury with the ability to inflict that injury.
Battery: intentional harmful physical contact. This includes all the violent sex crimes like molestation, fondling, indecent assault, rape, and attempted murder. A common defense is self-defense: the person committing the battery was defending themselves another.
Wrongful death: this includes murder manslaughter and negligentvehicular homicide.
False imprisonment: holding someone against their will for any length of time, however brief. These would include kidnapping and illegal strip searches.
Intentional or reckless infliction of emotional distress: this involves extreme and outrageous or offensive conduct which causes emotional trauma, anxiety, and pain. An example is stalking cases.
Fraud: an intentional representation made to deceive the victim resulting in damages. This applies to the crime of theft by deception, and white-collar crimes like telemarketing schemes, Ponzi schemes, and racketeering.
Conversion: theft or destruction of personal property or money. Example: embezzlement, concealment (hiding someone’s property) and larceny.
Negligence (a legal term for carelessness) that causes injury. This is the same theory for the common car accident and slip and fall accidents. In crime victim cases, the most common uses of negligent claims are for negligent security and negligent hiring. That is used when a security company fails to present a crime.
Some organizations or people have immunity from lawsuit like government agencies or employers from losses from their employees for a crime victim.
If you’ve been a victim of crime and believe that you might have a potential civil cause of action, click the “Request Consultation” button to learn if we can help you.