jumped on sept 2006--trying to file civil lawsuit now if i can ?

What is the name of your state? CA
Hi my name is Eric from california. this matter happened last year of september and i was not able to finish the matter the way i wanted it. heres how the story goes..... i was taking my younger brother to church, and on the way by, there is an aracade that we visit often. well one day, i see my brother(13) getting harrassed and threatened by some 18-19 year old boy saying that if my brother doesnt pay up, he is going to get killed. now this does not normally happen, and with me as an older brother, boiled my blood. i confronted and pushed away the 19 year old kid that took my brothers money and almost scared him ****less to make him cry. i had to take my brother away to not cause any more harm to my brother. couple days passed, and i went to the arcade by myself where i also see the same kid that took my brothers money. I confronted him and then was jumped by 7 guys that i didnt know. first he robbed my brother and now i get jumped. i was rushed to the hospital with a fracture to my skull, a concusion and massive facial and bodily injuries and bruises. couple of these kids were caught, and unfortunatley they were kids 17, 18, 19. i did end up going to a court and trying them through a criminal case. now that the case is over and he cannot come near 500 meters of me!! but my medical case is 10,000 and still rising!!! this happened almost 9 months ago!! i want to now file for a civil lawsuit for the damadges. even after time, my nose is partially crooked, i feel dumb from the massive injury, concentration is proved to be harder in class!!!( oh when i was hospitalized, i couldnt even go to work or out, where i also lost money and time!!!) i want to know if its good to actually pursure a civil case or not ? how much i can claim ? and if its already too late or not ? what are my chances on winning the cases like this !! i still have pictures of all my injuries, the police have also taken pictures, and i believe they didnt catch all of the suspects too !!! i can probably point them out even now cause i can remember the nightmare of being jumped. it was my first time, and i have to say,i lack knowledge on the crazy ass kids these days and i want to be fully reimbursed for this non-sense matter that they have caused against my brother and me.. .... any feedback would be gracefully appreciated!!

YOu can sue. Get an attorney. But are you going to be able to collect?

Something about this doesn't sound right ...

"unfortunatley they were kids 17, 18, 19 ..." - This means that the 18 and 19 year-olds are adults and would have been charged as such ... why is this "unfortunate"?

"the case is over and he cannot come near 500 meters of me" - He? i thought there were 7 people? More to the point, CA is NOT on the metric system. The stay away order would generally provide a measure between 100 and 300 YARDS ... usually 100.

Additionally, any medical bills you had should have been addressed in the penalty phase and the defendant(s) should have been ordered to make this restitution to you or to your insurance provider ... unless there were no bills presented to the probation department when they made their pre-sentencing report.

Consult a local attorney to find out if you have a case. But, you have to ask yourself, do these suspects HAVE any money? if not, you will be paying a lawyer to obtain a judgment that you cannot enforce ... not a good way to spend money.

- Carl

CdwJava said:

Something about this doesn't sound right ...

"unfortunatley they were kids 17, 18, 19 ..." - This means that the 18 and 19 year-olds are adults and would have been charged as such ... why is this "unfortunate"?

"the case is over and he cannot come near 500 meters of me" - He? i thought there were 7 people? More to the point, CA is NOT on the metric system. The stay away order would generally provide a measure between 100 and 300 YARDS ... usually 100.

Additionally, any medical bills you had should have been addressed in the penalty phase and the defendant(s) should have been ordered to make this restitution to you or to your insurance provider ... unless there were no bills presented to the probation department when they made their pre-sentencing report.

Consult a local attorney to find out if you have a case. But, you have to ask yourself, do these suspects HAVE any money? if not, you will be paying a lawyer to obtain a judgment that you cannot enforce ... not a good way to spend money.

- Carl

Click to expand...

sorry for being so unclear. i meant that unfortunately they are children and cant grasp the concept of responsibility.. personally im not out for revenge, but i do want my reimbursement!! second part, i wasnt sure about the restraining order, so i winged it because i didnt remember how big the distance they need to steer clear from me. (oh yea 3 of them out of the 7 were caught, but i dunno why only one was tried!!) i also have heard of cases where they have to loan out their house until they pay off everything? basically they use my name for their house until they are done paying off their debt or wtever. is this even possible ? and how would i be able to know if my suspects have money or not ?


ohh the reason why it took my so long to actually give my case a hard review is because im busy with school, and my job!! i recently got the medical bills, and im about to finish my finals. so now i want to finish this !!

So, why didn't you get an order for restitution? Didn't you tell the probation office what your damages were? They should have asked in the probation report.

If you sue them civilly, YOU will have to try and collect on the judgment - this can be difficult. And if they have no assets - and teenagers rarely do - then you will be out the money for the attorney to sue them, minus depositions, etc., and have nothing to show for it except a judgment that it might take you years to collect on.

I would suggest that you seek a free consultation with an attorney if you can.

- Carl

CdwJava said:

So, why didn't you get an order for restitution? Didn't you tell the probation office what your damages were? They should have asked in the probation report.

If you sue them civilly, YOU will have to try and collect on the judgment - this can be difficult. And if they have no assets - and teenagers rarely do - then you will be out the money for the attorney to sue them, minus depositions, etc., and have nothing to show for it except a judgment that it might take you years to collect on.

I would suggest that you seek a free consultation with an attorney if you can.

- Carl

Click to expand...

thanks for the advice. i will talk to an attorney and ask for a free consultation. normally, i feel already bad doing this because i believe in forgiveness ( my religion being Christianity) BUT the damadges are irreperable!! i now have a slight crooked nose which hurts at times when i touch it and i have a facial fracture. its just that i heard from many people that its not the teenagers assets that i will be going for, instead it would be asset of their parents that will reimburse me- believing that the parents have an asset. im pretty sure that because its not only 1 kid, they can reimburse in little amounts all together? im also getting victims compensation, but i noticed that does not cover my paychecks, time missed in school, and head trauma! ( i dont even talk to people with bald heads anymore) i feel a wierd sense of anxiety and frustration at times. the probabtion officer knew what the damadges were, hence the victims compensation.

ohh and thanks btw for answering my posts !!