Many personal injury cases arise from criminal conduct. For example, if you are hit by a drunk driver, you have a negligence claim against the drunk driver and the driver can be arrested for drunk driving. If the drunk driver is arrested, the criminal charges against him will likely be resolved before the civil trial. While the jury is still out on what the average time of civil and criminal cases are post-COVID, [1] Texas law requires courts to prioritize criminal cases over civil ones to protect a defendant’s right to a speedy trial.[2] Since the criminal charge and the personal injury lawsuit arose out of the exact same accident, much of the evidence useful in one lawsuit will be useful in the other too. Criminal cases produce a number of documents and evidence that can help a personal injury plaintiff win her case: police reports, police investigatory documents, evidence seized from the defendant, witness statements, material disclosed voluntarily by third parties, and even information shared by overseas authorities.
The real question is how personal injury plaintiffs can use these parallel criminal proceedings, and the evidence produced in them, effectively.
Probable Cause Hearings
A probable cause hearing is held after a defendant has entered a not guilty plea in most cases.[3] The purpose of a probable cause hearing is to allow the judge to decide whether there is probable cause to believe that a crime was committed.[4] Probable cause exists when there are “such facts and circumstances as would excite the belief in another person of a reasonable mind acting on the facts or circumstances within his knowledge at the time that the [defendant] was guilty of some form of the offense.”[5] Unlike with preponderance of evidence, there is no percentage assigned to probable cause. This lack of a hard number causes some judges to believe that the standard is less demanding that the preponderance of the evidence standard used in civil cases.[6] For reference, preponderance of the evidence means that a fact is more likely true than not.[7] Unfortunately for plaintiffs, this means that if a judge says there is probable cause, the plaintiff must still prove that it is more likely than not that the defendant injured the plaintiff.
On the other hand, for plaintiffs, probable cause hearings are mini-trials of a sort. In the hearing, the prosecutor must show that enough evidence exists to charge the defendant with a crime.[8] This means that the prosecutor may have to present evidence to a judge and to have witnesses testify. Since preliminary hearings are open to the public, civil plaintiffs and their lawyers can attend these hearings and use the hearings to the plaintiff’s advantage.[9] For example, if in the preliminary hearing a witness testifies that a light was green, but later, in the civil proceedings, testifies that the light was red, the civil plaintiff can introduce what the witness said at the preliminary hearing to “impeach” the witness.
Administrative License Revocation Recordings
The Administrative License Revocation (ALR) program is a civil administrative program ran by the Texas Department of Public Safety. Under the ALR program, DPS is required to suspend a driver’s license if the driver is arrested for Driving While Intoxicated or Boating While Intoxicated, when the driver (1) refuses to take or fails to complete a blood or breath test, (2), provides a blood or breath test that registers a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08% or more while driving a non-commercial motor vehicle, or (3) provides a blood or breath test that registers a blood alcohol concentration of 0.04% or more while driving a commercial motor vehicle.[10]
At an ALR hearing, an administrative law judge, who works for the State Office of Administrative Hearings, listens to all parties’ evidence and makes a final determination of driver license suspension. The State will present evidence to revoke your driving privileges. The State Office of Administrative Hearings is required to provide a recording of the hearing.[11] This recording can be an evidentiary gold mine for personal injury plaintiffs because it can provide evidence that the driver was intoxicated and other facts to help plaintiffs win their causes of action.
Trial Testimony
Generally, the public has a right to attend all stages of criminal trials.[12] All fifty states and the District of Columbia allow public access to court records.[13] In Texas, you have a right to inspect and copy most records and documents filed in Texas state courts. This includes the exhibits, evidence, and witness testimony submitted by parties at trial. Personal injury plaintiffs can usually access the entire transcript of a criminal trial and use that public record to their advantage in their civil suits.
When a plaintiff sues a defendant for engaging in an act that is also a crime, the defendant’s criminal case will take precedence in court. While a personal injury plaintiff would rather come first, they can and should take advantage of the evidentiary goldmine that the criminal proceedings provide.
Written by:
Katie Quillen
Law Clerk
WATTS GUERRA LLP
Four Dominion Drive, Bldg. Three, Suite 100
San Antonio, Texas 78257
Phone: (210) 447-0500
Frank Guerra
Board Certified – Personal Injury Law
Texas Board of Legal Specialization
WATTS GUERRA LLP
Four Dominion Drive, Bldg. Three, Suite 100
San Antonio, Texas 78257
Phone: (210) 447-0500
