Dear Shanks:

"Not guilty" and "innocent" are not the same - that's my point. "Innocent" means "he didn't do it." "Not guilty" means "it wasn't proved." To my knowledge, there is no "innocent" verdict available in the US.

The criminal justice system is concerned with adjudicating guilt (or not) for the purpose of imposing criminal sanctions. It does not address a person's reputation in the community, and does not concern itself with related civil matters.

A subsequent civil proceeding arising out of the same matter which resulted in a criminal trial does not pose a double jeopardy issue. Constitutional double jeopardy restrictions apply only to the government and its attempt to try or punish a defendant more than once for the same offense. What private parties do is not the concern of double jeopardy jurisprudence. (In fact, the constitution in general concerns itself only with the powers and limitations of the government; it does not regulate private conduct, but only protects it.)

Imagine that you entered into a partnership with another man for the purpose of developing a large real estate holding. The man convinced you to invest your life savings to buy the land and fund the beginning of construction, in part based upon a portfolio of prior developments he presented to you, all of which he assured you were highly profitable. Imagine that the man even presented you with supporting financial documentation of the prior developments to convince you to invest. Now imagine that the man - who never intended to build anything and who falsified every document and reference you saw and who intended to fleece you from the beginning - takes every penny of the investment and bolts to places unknown, leaving you with nothing but a land purchase now heavily mortgaged under your name by use of forgery.

Now let's imagine that the prosecutor issues criminal charges against the man, for fraud, embezzlement and forgery, and they find him and bring him before the court. Even assuming that the prosecutor can get a conviction (tough, since the man, using all your money, can afford Big Gun defense counsel), where does that leave you? Upon conviction, the man is subject to criminal sanctions, by way of imprisonment, a fine payable to the state, or probation. You are left with a big mortgage and no money. That's when you bring suit against him to reclaim all your assets. Do you not think it right that you can go after him for the return of your money? What if the defendant was acquitted of some or all of the charges in the criminal case? Maybe the prosecutor was incompetent, maybe the jury was stupid, but somehow, the jury was convinced that investment was legitimate and you lost your share of the money to an incompetent but not criminal partner who only took money owed to him for services rendered. Remember, the criminal trial burden of proof is beyond a reasonable doubt, so it only takes a partial belief in the defense to defeat the charges. Should you now be precluded from showing your claim under the ordinary civil standards of a preponderance of the evidence? No. Acquittal in a criminal trial does not preclude civil suit.

BTW, under certain circumstances, the opposite can apply: an establishment of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt can establish the underlying facts for the purpose of a subsequent civil trial.
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Scribbler: thank you for your comments. I like the "Beware of Greeks bearing basketballs" concept.

Now spill: where are you and for whom are you rooting?

GO SPARTANS!