Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California

Re: Can a civil complaint allege penal code violations?

If the Plaintiff proves you committed a crime and the Plaintiff suffered damage as a result, you would be liable for the Plaintiff's damages under the doctrine of negligence per se. You could also be potentially liable for punitive damages. Whether you have grounds for a demurrer is impossible to say without reading the complaint. Even so, I, personally do not like to demur to a defective complaint because the court will just grant leave to amend and Plaintiff will then have a stronger complaint to base its lawsuit on.

Re: Can a civil complaint allege penal code violations?

The penal code includes provisions which allow civil lawsuits for a handful of crimes. But even if the crimes at issue here aren't among them, the complaint may state viable causes of action. Many crimes are also torts, and pointing out that the defendant violated a criminal law doesn't invalidate a lawsuit that alleges such a tort.

Re: Can a civil complaint allege penal code violations?

If you have any assets, like house and good income, you should defend the case properly with counsel representing you. Such tort based claims are probably not dischargeable in bankruptcy, so deal seriously with this case.

Re: Can a civil complaint allege penal code violations?

I disagree with Mr. MCoy. I damn near demur to everything, and I have had many of them sustained without leave to amend. I find that lawyers that do not demur, just want to take your money and get you to settle later down the road. Why settle if you can get out now, or educate the judge that your opponent is big flake?

I agree with Mr. Hoffman. You need an attorney to look at the complaint and decide whether to demurrer or not. Some of the penal codes contain civil penalties, meaning that there are some causes of action in civil court that are expressly provided for by the Penal code. The one that comes to my mind this late in the evening is the one for eavesdropping, which is what someone gets in trouble for when they record someone else's conversations without permission.

Negligence per se would mean that someone was injured and the person causing the injury violated a statute. There are specific limitations on the application of this doctrine, which may or may not be applicable here.

Very truly yours,