How come OJ simpson's case is not double Jeopardy?

Question

Ok. So I don't understand.
a) he got acquitted from murder charges
b) he still lost a civil trial and got sentenced to millions in damages.

Since the second must base itself on the fact he is, somehow, responsible for the wrongful deaths and mùst indemnize the other party for their loss (whatever the exact nature of it, I could not get the exact terms and motives of the judgment), I can hardly reconcile it with the fact that the first trial cleared him of all charges, so I'd expect the double jeopardy clause to come in play... after all, a penal judgment, given its potential consequences ought not to be overturned by a civil jurisdiction right?

I can't make sense of it

Answer 1

They are two entirely different proceedings.

The first was criminal. If found guilty of murder, he could have gone to jail

The second was a civil proceeding. It was brought as a wrongful death suit by the relatives of Denise Brown and Ron Goldman. The standard of proof was completely different. He was found liable (there is no guilt or innocence here) for their deaths.

The big difference is the standard of evidence. In a criminal court, it is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. In civil, it is the preponderance of the evidence. If it is more likely than not, then he can be found liable.

Answer 2

Double jeopardy only becomes possible in this case if O J Simpson's blood is found in the crime scene evidence through D & A. Since O J's blood was not at the scene and a different assailant blood was found using D & A. O J innocence was proven beyond any doubt. This is why O J has NOT been retried. Had O J's blood been found at the scene using D & A, he would have been tried using double jeopardy years ago.

Answer 3

Double jeopardy is really a false term because, even though you were tried and acquitted, new evidence can be introduced to have you tried again. It is just that a New Trial needs to coincide with the rulings of the past trial, suppression of evidence or the like. Remember, you are talking law and in the interest of justice almost anything can happen.

The civil case has different rules, as it is better to have an innocent man go free-meaning-American justice values freedom so where you are thinking a criminal case should exonerate a person of ALL guilty, America found-in the interest of justice-one can be held civil liable.

Answer 4

Double Jeopardy applies only to retrying someone in a criminal court for the same crime. It does not apply to civil trials.

How could someone be acquitted in a criminal court and found guilty in a civil trial? The big difference is the burden of proof in a criminal trial and in a civil trial are different.

It boils down to this: In a criminal trial you must be found guilty without a shadow of a doubt, in a civil trial doubts are allowed.

Look at it this way: an acquittal in a criminal trial does not mean that you were found innocent of all charges----it means there was not enough evidence to convict.

So you can face civil charges when your criminal trial is over---which is what happened to O.J. Simpson.

I don't know the specifics, but I would guess the civil court found that there was enough evidence to support the claim that he was
somehow responsible for the deaths.

Hope this helps.

Answer 5

Because the civil and criminal justice systems are two separate entities. Just because you are not convicted in criminal court does not mean you cannot be in civil court. There is a difference weight placed on what evidence needs to be presented in a civil trial vs. criminal trial. And he never got "sentenced" to pay in the civil suit, the decision came in favor of the plaintiffs.

Answer 6

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Civil cases hold different merit than criminal cases, allowing somebody to be tried twice. One court is infront of a jury, the other just a judge. The expression sued comes into play for civil cases while charged comes into play for criminal court. Plus in civil court hewas sued for the wrongful deaths of the victims, for which the judge found in favor of the plaintif, he wasnt charged with murder. Double Jeopardy does apply to civil court, he cannot be SUED twice for the same incident, just like in criminal court he cant be charged with the same crime twice. Thats how that can happen

Answer 7

Criminal and civil are two different issues and have 2 different levels of proof!

He can't be charged criminally for the same crime, but he can be sued civilly by as many people you have harmed.

The first did not clear Simpson of the charges. The jury, which in my opinion was biased, found he was not guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. That is a long way from saying he didn't do it! They didn't find him "innocent", they found him "not guilty"!

Answer 8

When the serve of justice be handed to group of corrupt bushmen as 'lawyers & judges', then this will be the results: Billions Billions dollars are wasted in administration of justice in Canada & US with NO benefits whatsoever for public.

AFTER FIFTY YEARS EXPERANCES, I KNOW EXACTLY HOW American & Canadian corrupt Justice Systems working; so listen carfully:

IF, OJ was convicted to Death penalithy, NO one could enjoy any kind of free money except his children...

BUT American Judges & Lawyers are smarter than what ALL other people to understand their mentality...

They did not kill OJ, then the lawyers & judges made deal with those corrupt family: "IF we win the case, we want 51% [whatever percentage may be ] Deal or no deal?"

Then, they simply convicted him in civil proceedings and got all OJ's money. How? The ground in civil proceedings could be anything... Did you had on that day verbal argument with...?

Answer 9

Not a popular opinion but I think that it was wrong. No matter what one thinks about the case, he was found innocent. I know the reasoning-civil, criminal and all that but that just wasn't right. If you are found innocent of a crime, that should have been it.

I thought there was something about "innocent until proven guilty"

Answer 10

double jeopardy only applies for criminal charges. when some families can't get enough evidence to take someone to trial, they sue them for a wrongful death suit outside criminal court. they only pay money, but at least their is some justice.