Restitution Discussion Group Archives
| Sender: |
Lionel Smith |
| Date: |
Thu, 20 Feb 1997 11:25:47 |
| Re: |
Restitution for Wrongs |
Nicola Shaw wrote:
The successful civil proceedings
against OJ Simpson raise an interesting issue with regard to restitution
for wrongdoing. Following his acquittal in the criminal trial, OJ
has made significant profits from the sale of his book and from interviews
on (primarily) the murder trial. If we accept a wider basis for giving
restitution for torts and prima facie allow recovery for such a wrong,
could the estates of the victims claim restitution for these profits?
The unusual feature is that the profits
are derived from his acquittal for a wrong which on a reduced standard
of proof he was found liable for. Is there any theory of remoteness
in restitution for wrongdoing which might exclude such recovery - ie.
does the fact that the profits stem from a previous trial and acquittal
on those facts sever the connection between them and the wrongdoing
as established by the subsequent civil suit? I am sure there are remoteness limitations in restitution
for wrongdoing, but I am not sure that they are of this sort. The tort
having been proved, it seems to me that there could be a claim to the
profits even if there had been a failed criminal prosecution. Remoteness
and causation issues would be more along the lines of: causation: how
much of the profit from the book derived from the writer's skill as opposed
to the wrong? remoteness: what about the gains from a profitable investment
made with the profits from the book?
It is also interesting to speculate what would have happened
if he had been convicted. In this particular case there would
be statutory provisions covering the profits of crime which might or might
not make provision for victims, as opposed to state confiscation. In the
absence of such, are there two wrongs and hence two claimants for disgorgement
of profits? How would we divide or apportion the gains?
Lionel Smith
St. Hugh's College
Oxford, U.K.
OX2 6LE
Tel (0)1865 274 966; Fax (0)1865 274 912
http://users.ox.ac.uk/~lawf0014/lionel.html
<== Previous message Back to index Next message ==>
»
»
»
»
| For
editorial policy, see here. For the unedited archive, see here. The archive editor is Steve Hedley. |
