Understanding Nursing Home Abuse as a Crime and in Civil Court

01 May Understanding Nursing Home Abuse as a Crime and in Civil Court

In 2011, a man in Santa Clara California was convicted of elder abuse and was sentenced to 17 years in jail. The case involved a 94-year-old woman who he forcibly raped. In a situation such as this, there may be criminal and civil liability that come into play for the family victimized by the perpetrator.

Civil vs. Criminal

In a situation such as the one described above, there may be criminal and civil law involved in going after the people responsible. These are very different things. The work of the police, criminal courts and the other entities involved in enforcing the law are not necessarily done on behalf of the victims. They’re done on behalf of society as a whole.

In the above-described situation, the defendant ended up sentenced to 17 years in jail because he committed a violation of the criminal code. The function of the criminal courts is to punish people who break the law. Although lawyers such as the Dallas defense attorneys help the accused, the criminal courts determine whether or not the person did, in fact, break the law and what an appropriate punishment for breaking that law would be. That is why it is advisable to hire an experienced and skilled criminal lawyer to defend you. They can also help you find a legitimate source of bail money if you need to post bail. But if you ever face a criminal speeding ticket offense, you can hire a professional like Canyon State Law, which has a lot of experience when it comes to this case.

In a civil case, the plaintiff is generally alleging that the defendant owed them a duty and that they fail to carry out that duty to the plaintiff. Again using the case referenced at the beginning of this article as an example, a family in a situation where an elderly relative was sexually assaulted in a nursing home might end up suing the nursing home itself because that nursing home had a duty to provide a safe environment for the person under their care. The claim could also be brought by the nursing home resident themselves, if they were of sound enough mind to do so. If you are looking for criminal attorney defending your rights, then you can get some advice from them regarding criminal cases.

Personal Injury Lawyers

Personal injury lawyers help people to file lawsuits against entities that owed them a duty and failed to deliver. Nursing home abuse lawyers specialize in going after nursing homes that are negligent in delivering the care that residents need or that actually set up situations where someone is abused simply because there was inadequate supervision, background checking or some other form of negligence that led to the person suffering that abuse.

If someone you love was abused in a nursing home, remember that you may be able to seek compensation for that with the help of expert Miami DUI lawyers for hire, even after the person responsible for the abuse has been jailed.