The last time I blogged I talked about what you need to know about your duty (or not) to show up at traffic court following an accident. Today I am going to address a slightly different issue - one that causes a lot of confusion for many people around Atlanta.
Here is a common misunderstanding - many of my clients are under the impression that if the at fault driver pleads or is found guilty in traffic court they will automatically be liable in the injury claim. This is not quite how it works.
A person can be found guilty of a traffic offense but later be found NOT responsible for causing an injury. The reason for this is that the traffic ticket is a criminal matter while the injury case is a civil matter. Though both cases arose out of the same incident, the legal system views them as separate and a finding of guilt (or liability) in one matter will not necessarily be binding in the other matter.
Here is a classic example that may clarify what I am saying. Do you remember how O.J. Simpson was found not guilty of the murder of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman? Do you also remember that some time after the acquittal, O.J. Simpson was found liable for murdering the two in a wrongful death case? He won the criminal case but lost the civil case. Two different cases, two different burdens of proof.
It works much the same way with traffic tickets.
