Texas-Book-Gun Law Armed And Educated - Flipbook - Page 404
In that case, Nancy can appeal the decision, or even ask the trial
court for a new trial. However, Nancy cannot file another, or new,
lawsuit regarding the same incident and attempt to recover more in
the second case because of the doctrine of res judicata. In order for
the doctrine to apply, the parties, facts, circumstances, and issues
must be the same.
EXAMPLE:
Enrique fires his hunting rifle from his deer blind, hitting Phillip
with one round. Phillip files a civil suit against Enrique and loses
at trial. The court awards Phillip no damages. Phillip appeals and
loses the appeal also.
Phillip is legally barred from recovering in another lawsuit against
Enrique involving the same incident. However, Phillip is not barred
from filing suit against Enrique for damages arising out of another
set of facts and circumstances, for example, if the two are involved
in a car wreck on a different day.
2. Civil case result impact on criminal case
Suppose you lose a civil suit and a judgment is entered against you
arising out of a shooting incident. Can that judgment be used to
establish that you committed a crime? No. The burden of proof is
much higher in the criminal case than the civil case. The plaintiff
proved his civil case by a “preponderance of the evidence.” This
does not mean that he proved his case “beyond a reasonable
doubt,” meaning a separate criminal trial is required to make
that determination.
The one area where a civil case can impact a criminal case is
the potential overlapping use of evidence and testimony. Your
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