Also known as: victims · complainant · injured party
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A person who suffers harm or injury from another's criminal, tortious, or wrongful conduct.
Victor Vargas loaded a gun and drove to Violet Vang's home intending to shoot her. He parked across the street and walked onto the porch with the weapon drawn. Police arrested him before he could knock. The conduct satisfied the dangerous proximity requirement because Victor had come within feet of completing the offense against the intended victim.
Virgil Vaughn faced assault charges after a bar fight. He offered evidence that the alleged victim, Valerie Voss, had a reputation for starting fights. The prosecutor then introduced evidence of Virgil's own violent character to rebut the claim. The court admitted both under the rule allowing the defendant to open the door to the victim's pertinent trait.
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Vito Villarreal contracted to supply custom parts to Vega Motors for an entire production run. When Vito delivered only half the required quantity, Vega Motors as the victim of the breach treated the shortfall as a total breach. The company recovered damages measured by all remaining rights to performance under the contract.
Valerie Viera remained in the leased commercial space thirty days after her lease with Voss Shipping expired. Voss Shipping as the victim of the improper holdover incurred extra moving costs and lost a new tenant because of the delay. The court awarded Voss Shipping the foreseeable special damages caused by Valerie's improper holdover.
After a mass transit accident, a state bar disciplined an attorney who mailed brochures to injured passengers within the thirty-day period. The court upheld the restriction because the brief ban protected the privacy of accident victims and the reputation of the bar without being overly broad.
Victor Vargas moved to transfer his criminal trial to another district because key witnesses and the victim lived hundreds of miles away. The court granted the motion after finding that the convenience of the victim and witnesses, together with the interest of justice, justified the change.
A defendant may offer evidence of an alleged victim's pertinent trait subject to Rule 412 limitations. Once admitted, the prosecutor may rebut with evidence of the defendant's same trait or offer evidence of the victim's peacefulness in a homicide case where the defendant claims the victim was the first aggressor.
Yes. When a party's assent is induced by an improper threat of criminal prosecution that leaves the victim no reasonable alternative, the contract is voidable by the victim under the duress doctrine.
Absent contrary agreement, the landlord may recover use-and-occupation damages plus special damages the tenant could reasonably have foreseen would result from the holdover and that the landlord could not reasonably avoid.
Yes. On the defendant's motion the court may transfer the proceeding to another district for the convenience of the parties, any victim, and the witnesses when the interest of justice so requires.
…default and that they were the only loss actually sustained. The principle of damages is to render compensation to the injured party. Authorities and treatises were cited, including Sedgwick on the Measure of Damages, where the rule is stated that in contract cases damages may be those which both parties might fairly be…