Legal Question in Insurance Law in California
If a criminal case is dismissed due to lack of evidence how is it that a insurance company can send the former "suspect" a invoice requesting payment for damages & cite a police report for a case that never reached arraignment due to lack of sufficient evidence.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Quite simple, the standard of proof for civil liability is very different from criminal conviction. Criminal charges must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Civil claims only have to be proved by a "preponderance of the evidence" which is an old fashioned phrase that means "more likely true than not true." A classic example of this is O.J. Simpson being acquitted of murder but found liable in the lawsuit by the families for wrongful death for killing Nichole Simpson and Ron Brown.
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