Crime Victims | Criminal Misconduct Injury Attorney

The American Courts System handles criminal misconduct in two ways: 1) the criminal courts punish the offenders; and 2) the civil courts compensate the victims.  Victims of criminal misconduct are entitled to compensation for the injuries inflicted upon them by the offenders.  If you have been the victim of any of the following crimes, our law office can help ensure that you receive appropriate compensation for your injuries.

• Assault: Assault is the tort of intentionally and voluntarily causing the reasonable apprehension of immediate bodily harm
• Battery: Battery is the tort of intentionally and voluntarily causing an un-consented harmful or offensive contact. Unlike assault, battery involves actual physical contact, not merely the apprehension of contact.
• Conversion: Conversion is the unlawful interference with property rights, usually accomplished through theft, arson or vandalism
• Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress: IIED is the intentional or reckless causing of extreme emotional distress through conduct that is extreme and outrageous.
• False Imprisonment: False imprisonment is the tort of confining or physically restraining a person without legal authority.
• Fraud: Fraud is the tort of intentionally deceiving someone for personal gain or to harm another individual.
• Trespass to Chattels: Trespass to chattels is the tort of intentionally stealing personal property for a period of time, however brief, and causing harm to that property.

Often times the criminals that victimized you could have been prevented or deterred from committing their crimes. If you were a victim of a crime on property such as an apartment complex, hotel, motel, office park, shopping center, or parking lot, and the owner of that property did not provide reasonable security measures, you may be entitled to compensation from the owner of that property.  These types of cases are often referred to as “inadequate security” cases.  

Liability for inadequate security is based on foreseeability. Property owners are required to take the risk of crime into consideration when managing the day-to-day affairs of their businesses. They have the duty to be aware of criminal activity on their property, and to take reasonable measures to protect individuals against crime. 

The general rule is that property owners must be aware of the risk or should have been aware of the risk before they must take adequate measures to prevent it. For instance, if there have been a significant number of similar crimes on or near the property, then the property owner may be held liable for failing to take appropriate measures to protect against the known criminal activity. Even if the property owner is unaware of these crimes, they may be held liable if they failed to act reasonably to learn about criminal activity on or near their property or business.

Based on the level of security required, property owners may have a legal obligation to maintain locks, keep control of master keys and spare keys, control building access, install security systems and maintain adequate interior and exterior lighting. Finally, owners should have some control over access to their premises, maintain adequate exterior lighting in parking areas and access areas, control overgrown foliage and, if necessary, hire exterior security personnel. Liability often results when the property owner does not have an awareness of the crime risks or ignores the evidence of crime, and then does not integrate a security practice into the everyday management of the facility.

Our firm represents victims who have been assaulted, robbed, shot, killed, stabbed or raped in apartment complexes, hotels, motels, office parks, shopping centers, and parking lots.  Whenever a person is victimized by criminal activity, our firm inquires whether inadequate security contributed to the victim's injuries:

• Did a property manager inform tenants of ongoing criminal activity?
• Did a property owner provide sufficient security for tenants and visitors to the property?
• Were the walkways, staircases, and parking lots sufficiently illuminated between dusk to dawn?
• Did a perimeter fence enclose the property?
• Were security cameras installed and adequately monitored on the property?

Unfortunately, the failure to have adequate security results in devastating and life changing events for the victims of these crimes. The most significant injuries are often not physical, but the emotional and psychological impact of being the victim of a violent crime. In Georgia, crime victims may recover against negligent property owners for not only their physical injuries and medical expenses, but also for the mental and emotional injuries they suffer from these crimes.

Inadequate security claims have become the fastest growing area of tort liability. Rape and sexual assault account for the majority of these claims. However, claims may be made for any criminal act, including, but not limited to, murder, robbery, burglary, and/or assault.

If you have been injured on the property of someone else as a result of a criminal act of a third party, we can help you with your claim. 

Since property owners and insurance companies have vast experience in evaluating the claims of crime victims and will seek to pay the lowest compensation possible, it is important to have an attorney on your side with considerable experience dealing with these property owners and insurance companies. It is always best to have an attorney who will not settle your case for anything less than its full value.  If the property owners or insurance company is not being reasonable in their valuation of your case, you need an attorney who will fight for you, who will file a lawsuit, take your case to trial and prove why you deserve to be compensated.  Our law firm will do that for you.