When someone dies during an encounter with law enforcement, several legal processes may follow.
There may be an internal police investigation. Local or state prosecutors may consider criminal charges. Federal authorities may investigate possible criminal civil rights violations. Surviving family members or the person’s estate may also consider a civil rights or wrongful death lawsuit.
These processes can overlap, but they are not the same case and do not necessarily produce the same result.
A decision not to prosecute an officer does not automatically determine whether civil liability exists. An acquittal does not necessarily preclude civil litigation. Conversely, criminal charges or a conviction do not automatically establish every element necessary to prevail in a civil lawsuit.
The distinction has received renewed attention following the Texas parole board’s October 2026 decision to grant parole to former Dallas police officer Amber Guyger, who was convicted of murdering Botham Jean. Jean’s family separately pursued civil litigation that resulted in a $98.65 million federal jury award.
Read the latest update on the Amber Guyger parole decision and Botham Jean case.
Attorneys Ben Crump and Antonio Romanucci, who represented Jean’s family in federal civil rights litigation, also responded directly to the parole decision.
Read the complete statement from Ben Crump Law regarding Amber Guyger’s parole.
Understanding why criminal and civil outcomes can coexist starts with the fundamental differences between the two systems.
What Is the Difference Between a Criminal Case and a Civil Lawsuit?
A criminal case is generally brought by the government.
Prosecutors decide whether there is sufficient evidence to pursue criminal charges. If the case proceeds to trial, the prosecution generally must prove the defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Potential consequences can include imprisonment, probation, fines, and other criminal penalties.
A civil lawsuit serves a different function.
Depending on the circumstances, an injured person, surviving family members, an estate, or another legally authorized party may bring a civil action seeking remedies for injuries, death, or violations of legal rights.
Civil cases generally use a lower burden of proof than criminal prosecutions. Many civil claims use the preponderance of the evidence standard, although the applicable standard depends on the particular claim.
These different standards help explain why the outcomes of criminal and civil proceedings do not always match.
Can a Family File a Civil Lawsuit if an Officer Is Not Criminally Charged?
Potentially.
A prosecutor’s decision not to bring criminal charges does not automatically establish that no civil claim exists.
Federal criminal civil rights prosecutions can impose a demanding evidentiary burden. Prosecutors pursuing certain criminal civil rights violations must establish the elements of the criminal offense beyond a reasonable doubt.
A private civil action involves different claims and standards.
This distinction has arisen in cases represented by Ben Crump Law.
Following the fatal shooting of Amir Locke during a Minneapolis no-knock raid, prosecutors declined to bring criminal charges. Locke’s parents nevertheless pursued civil litigation. A federal court subsequently denied an attempt to dismiss significant portions of their civil rights lawsuit, allowing the case to proceed.
BCL also maintains a resource specifically addressing what may happen when a grand jury declines criminal charges:
Learn what may happen legally when a grand jury declines criminal charges.
That question is narrower than the question of whether criminal and civil proceedings can reach different outcomes. The broader principle is that each potential civil claim must be evaluated according to its own elements, evidence, defenses, and burden of proof.
What if an Officer Is Acquitted?
An acquittal in a criminal case does not automatically eliminate every potential civil claim.
Again, the legal questions and burdens of proof differ.
A criminal jury determines whether prosecutors have established the charged crime beyond a reasonable doubt.
A civil court may instead be asked whether conduct violated constitutional rights, caused a wrongful death or injury, or created liability under another applicable civil law.
Recent BCL matters illustrate how these proceedings can continue independently.
After three former Memphis police officers were found not guilty on state criminal charges arising from the death of Tyre Nichols, attorneys Ben Crump and Antonio Romanucci stated that they intended to continue pursuing civil litigation.
That does not mean an acquittal is irrelevant to a civil case. Nor does it mean a civil case will succeed.
It means the civil claim must be evaluated under its own legal elements, evidence, defenses, and burden of proof.
What if the Officer Is Convicted?
A criminal conviction and a civil lawsuit can also coexist.
The Botham Jean case provides a clear example.
Former Dallas police officer Amber Guyger was convicted of murder in 2019 and sentenced to 10 years in prison after fatally shooting Jean inside his apartment.
Jean’s family also pursued civil litigation.
In 2024, a federal jury awarded the family $98.65 million in compensatory and punitive damages against Guyger.
Read how Botham Jean’s family and legal team responded to the $98.65 million civil verdict.
Guyger’s criminal sentence and the family’s civil judgment therefore represented two separate forms of legal accountability arising from Jean’s death.
Her subsequent parole concerns the administration of her criminal sentence. It does not erase the separate civil verdict.
What Can a Civil Rights Lawsuit Address?
The exact claims depend on what occurred and which laws apply.
When government officials are involved, a federal civil rights action may potentially address violations of constitutional rights.
One important federal statute is 42 U.S.C. § 1983, which provides a mechanism for bringing certain civil claims against people acting under color of state law.
Police-related civil rights litigation may involve allegations concerning:
- excessive or unreasonable force;
- unlawful searches or seizures;
- failure to intervene;
- unconstitutional policies or practices;
- inadequate training or supervision;
- deliberate indifference in circumstances where that standard applies; or
- other violations of federally protected rights.
The presence of a police shooting does not by itself establish a constitutional violation. The facts, the governing constitutional standard, the defendants, the evidence, and the available defenses all matter.
People seeking more information about these cases can review BCL’s civil rights lawyer resource.
Is a Civil Rights Lawsuit the Same as a Wrongful Death Lawsuit?
Not necessarily.
The claims can overlap, but they arise from different sources of law.
A federal civil rights lawsuit may focus on whether a government official violated rights protected by the U.S. Constitution or federal law.
A wrongful death action generally arises under state law and addresses a death caused by conduct meeting that state’s requirements for liability.
Depending on the circumstances, litigation following a fatal police encounter may include both federal civil rights claims and state-law wrongful death claims.
Families can learn more about the separate state-law cause of action through BCL’s wrongful death resources.
When civil liability is established, another important question is what financial damages the applicable claims may permit.
Learn what compensation may be available in a police civil rights lawsuit.
Who Can Be Sued in a Police Civil Rights Case?
This is highly fact-dependent.
Potential defendants can differ depending on what happened, where it happened, and which legal claims are available.
A lawsuit might involve claims against individual officers.
Claims against a municipality or another government entity involve additional requirements. A government entity is not automatically liable merely because it employed an officer accused of wrongdoing.
Attorneys investigating these cases may examine issues involving policies, customs, training, supervision, discipline, prior incidents, or other evidence relevant to the specific legal theories being considered.
State-law claims can introduce additional defendants and different rules.
Determining who may legally be responsible, therefore, requires more than identifying who was physically present during an encounter.
What Evidence Matters in a Police Misconduct Civil Case?
Civil rights attorneys may need to reconstruct the encounter independently.
Potential evidence can include:
- body-worn camera footage;
- dashboard-camera footage;
- surveillance video;
- cellphone recordings;
- 911 calls and dispatch recordings;
- police reports;
- witness statements;
- autopsy and medical records;
- photographs and physical evidence;
- use-of-force reports;
- departmental policies;
- training records;
- disciplinary histories; and
- expert analysis.
The evidence considered during a criminal investigation can also become relevant to subsequent civil litigation.
Civil attorneys may examine much of the same evidence while asking different legal questions.
In a criminal case, the evidence may be evaluated to determine whether a particular crime can be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
In civil litigation, attorneys may instead examine whether the evidence supports a constitutional claim, a wrongful death action, another civil cause of action, and legally recoverable damages.
Does a Criminal Investigation Need to End Before a Civil Lawsuit Begins?
Not necessarily.
Criminal investigations and civil litigation can sometimes proceed during overlapping periods.
However, simultaneous proceedings can create strategic and procedural complications.
Evidence may be controlled by law enforcement agencies. Witness testimony may implicate criminal proceedings. Courts may sometimes stay portions of civil litigation. Statements made in one proceeding can potentially affect another.
Deadlines also matter.
Families should not assume that a pending criminal investigation automatically pauses a civil statute of limitations or another applicable filing deadline.
Government defendants can also be subject to special notice requirements that may arise before the ordinary statute of limitations expires.
An attorney can determine which deadlines apply in the relevant jurisdiction.
Why Can Criminal and Civil Cases Reach Different Outcomes?
Different outcomes do not necessarily mean one court contradicted another.
The systems can ask fundamentally different questions.
A criminal case may ask whether prosecutors proved that a defendant committed a particular crime beyond a reasonable doubt.
A civil case may ask whether a defendant is legally liable under a particular civil cause of action using the evidentiary standard applicable to that claim.
The defendants may also differ.
The available remedies differ.
The elements that must be proven differ.
And the evidence admitted or developed in each proceeding can differ.
That is why families should not automatically interpret:
no charges, meaning there can be no civil case;
an acquittal as automatically resolving civil liability;
or
a conviction as automatically establishing every aspect of a civil claim.
Each proceeding requires its own legal analysis.
The Botham Jean Case Shows the Difference Between Criminal and Civil Accountability
The legal history following Botham Jean’s death illustrates these distinctions particularly clearly.
Guyger’s murder conviction resulted in a prison sentence.
Jean’s family separately pursued civil accountability and obtained a $98.65 million jury award.
Years later, the parole board’s decision affects how Guyger’s criminal sentence is administered. It does not undo the separate civil verdict.
Readers who need the chronology leading to the latest development can review Amber Guyger Granted Parole: What Happened in the Botham Jean Case?
Attorneys Ben Crump and Antonio Romanucci also addressed the parole decision directly on behalf of Jean’s family.
Read the complete BCL statement about Amber Guyger’s parole.
Together, the proceedings demonstrate why “Was someone criminally convicted?” and “Can someone be held civilly liable?” are separate legal questions.
What Damages Can Be Recovered Through a Civil Case?
Civil litigation can potentially provide monetary remedies that the criminal justice process is not designed to provide in the same way.
Depending on the claims, injuries, defendants, and applicable law, damages may potentially address economic and non-economic losses.
Certain civil rights cases may also permit punitive damages against particular individual defendants when the applicable legal standard is satisfied.
There is no standard value for a police misconduct case, however, and the result of another lawsuit does not establish what a different claim may be worth.
The $98.65 million verdict in the Botham Jean litigation, for example, was based on the claims and evidence presented in that particular case.
The third article in this series examines these damages questions in greater detail:
Police Civil Rights Lawsuit Damages: What Compensation May Be Available?
Can a Civil Rights Attorney Help After a Police Killing?
A civil rights attorney can investigate whether the evidence supports a civil claim independent of the outcome of a criminal investigation or prosecution.
That investigation may include obtaining available video and records, identifying potential defendants, reviewing applicable constitutional and state-law standards, preserving evidence, evaluating damages, and determining filing deadlines.
Ben Crump Law represents individuals and families in matters involving alleged police misconduct, excessive force, wrongful death, and other potential civil rights violations.
If your family has lost a loved one during an encounter with law enforcement, you can contact Ben Crump Law to discuss the circumstances and learn whether civil legal options may be available.
Call or text (844) 777-4453 or complete the firm’s free case evaluation form.
