In this case the family appeared to get along great and upon Shirley's murder they came together and emotionally supported each other. So how did this family get to this point? One would reasonably think that to find that answer you would have to go back decades and see a lifetime of dysfunction. Two days after the conclusion of the civil trial Jason was arrested and charged in the murder of his mother. Bill Carter, Shirley's husband, their son, Billy and daughter, Jana, filed the suit against Bill and Shirley's other son, Jason. Not only was the process abnormal, the participants in the case were just as odd. The civil trial took place in late 2017 and it was not until after that trial that an arrest was made and charges filed in her murder. Her murder occurred in June of 2015 and her family filed a wrongful death suit in court in January of the following year. In the case of Shirley Carter it was different however. My point here is that it is not unusual for the two separate courts to come to different decisions as to the role in which someone plays in the death of another. The families of their victims also filed wrongful death civil suits and those juries found both men guilty, or “likely” to have committed the murders and ordered them to pay the families financial compensation. In both cases their criminal trials were conducted first and they were found not guilty in the murders of their spouse (or in Simpson's case ex-spouse) and/or others. Two famous cases where this happened involve the actor, Robert Blake and athlete/actor, O.J. Keep in mind that also the rules in which what not only can be presented in each type of court is different but so is what is required to be “handed” over to each side.Īs I stated above the standard to reach a verdict in a criminal trial verses a civil trial are different and we have seen many cases where a criminal trial ends in an acquittal while a civil trial will end with a judgment against the defendant. Now, part of the reason for that is that in most case criminal charges have already been filed so the defendant is already in the process of preparing for a trial hence the courts delay the civil trial. The civil case is some times filed before the criminal trial but is often delayed until after the criminal trial is conducted. In most, although admittedly not all, a civil case is generally not conducted until after a criminal trial has taken place. Some say in a civil try one only has to be convinced 51% to in order to reach a verdict. In a criminal trial the standard to reach a guilty verdict is said to be “beyond a reasonable doubt” while in a civil trial a jury only has to consider “the preponderance of evidence” and determine if it is “likely” that a defendant committed a crime. We have seen many cases that involve both criminal and civil cases. I have seen more than a few different television shows based on this case and while I cannot say for sure what I think happened, the tactics used by law enforcement, as well as family members, have bothered me.
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