South Florida Injury Attorney Blog

The Tampa Bay Tribune recently ran a truly tragic story about a fatal pedestrian accident in St. Pete Beach. A man and his wife were walking to the store when they were hit by a van that swerved onto the sidewalk for no obvious reason. The man survived; the woman died, leaving behind her husband and three children, as well as a mother in the Tampa area. Blood testing showed that the driver of the van had four prescription drugs in his system, including Valium and Xanax. He told police that he was not under a doctor's care. But after two doctors decided that the levels of the drugs in his system weren't high enough to impair him, the prosecutors in the case declined to charge the driver with any crime. He has received only a ticket for reckless driving.

I can only imagine how difficult it must be for this family to live with this situation, and to accept the prosecutor's decision in this case. My heart goes out to them. I am not a criminal lawyer and it would be inappropriate to judge the driver's criminal culpability, especially since the article couldn't have included all of the relevant facts. But as a Florida wrongful death attorney, I do know that sometimes the civil courts can do a job that the criminal courts cannot or will not. Families may not be able to file criminal charges over a prosecutor's objections, but they do have the right to pursue a wrongful death lawsuit.

A wrongful death lawsuit cannot bring victims of a wrongful death back, although we wish it could. Instead, it seeks to hold wrongdoers legally and financially responsible for their actions. By taking them to court, families who have lost a loved one unexpectedly can hold wrongdoers accountable under the law and sometimes prevent other families from experiencing the same loss and anguish. They can also help to replace an income unexpectedly lost, and the cost of household help, like baby-sitters, that might be necessary if the victim is a young parent, as in this case. And finally, a Florida wrongful death lawsuit also allows victims to claim compensation for the loss of their loved one's care, companionship, love and other emotional benefits.

Because a lawsuit isn't seeking to put anyone in prison, the burden of proof is lower in a wrongful death lawsuit than it would be in a criminal case. That means families may file a wrongful death claim even when there is no criminal prosecution, as in this case -- although families can and frequently do pursue both kinds of case. If you've lost someone you care about through another person's carelessness or illegal behavior and you’d like to learn more about your options, my firm, Cohn, Smith & Cohn, would like to help. Contact us today for a free consultation.