South Florida Injury Lawyers Blog
Those who have suffered a violent criminal attack know how it can upend your whole life. The physical injuries can be devastating and the emotional scars may last long after the body has healed.
The criminal justice system exists for the purpose of holding accountable those who have broken our laws, especially when that results in harm to others. Meanwhile, the civil justice system allows for victims to seek financial compensation for the losses they have sustained. In many such cases, it’s worthwhile to look beyond the person who committed the crime to determine whether there are other entities (usually the owner of the property where the attack occurred) who breached a duty to take reasonable measures to prevent such such an attack where it was foreseeable.
But how could a property owner possibly know someone would independently commit a criminal act? After all, no one can legally be expected to have psychic powers. However, the foreseeability test takes into account whether the property owner could have reasonably foreseen the attack based on a history of past similar crimes at the same location. A good example of this was recently seen in the case of Jenkins v. C.R.E.S. Mgmt. LLC, before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Continue reading →