Anyone with a television will be aware of criminal law, there are either programs based on fiction or news stories almost every day that portray the procedures that take place during a criminal case. On the other hand, many people are not aware of tort law. To the layman, the differences can be quite difficult to discerner but there are a number of distinctive differences which include the type of crime committed, the punishment meted out if found guilty as well as the burden of proof. In a nut shell, a criminal defense attorney in Cincinnati defends a client who has been accused of a statutory crime while civil law deals with non-criminal events.
Criminal law involves situations where a law has been broken; civil law on the other hand deals in situations where no law has been broken. Criminal cases often involve armed robbery, murder, assault and battery and similar crimes. A civil case usually involves litigation between two parties such as divorce, contract disagreements etc. In a criminal case it is the government that files the case as the crime is considered as a crime against the state, in the case of civil law the plaintiff is a private party or private entity such as a corporation, in the case of civil law the crime is not a crime against the state.
The punishment that is doled out in the two types of cases is very different. In the case of a criminal offense the individual found guilty can be jailed, fined, a combination of both or even executed if the crime is seen as heinous by the jury. When a criminal defense attorney in Cincinnati takes a case to defend a client against a statutory crime, the crime will be either a misdemeanor or a felony. Misdemeanors carry a different penalty than a felony crime, always very much shorter jail time and fines.
The loser in a civil case will not go to jail but will be responsible for reimbursing the plaintiff for any and all financial losses and damages. If the court feels that it is important to make an example of the defendant in hopes of deterring others from emulating him, the judge can award punitive damages, these damages are often awarded when there is ample evidence of intent, gross negligence or disregard for the rights of others.
In civil law the burden of proof is on the plaintiff, in criminal law it is up to the prosecution to prove that the accused is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, it is the mandate of the prosecutor to try and establish this and for the criminal defense attorney in Cincinnati to prove the innocence of the client.
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