Absolutely. A civil action against a drunk driver is completely separate from their criminal case. In a civil case, a victim is seeking financial damages from the drunk driver, but the criminal case is filed by the state in an effort to punish the drunk driver. Perhaps the best example of this difference is the infamous cases of former pro football star O.J. Simpson. While Simpson was acquitted of murder in his criminal trial in 1995, a jury found him liable for the wrongful deaths of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman, awarding the victim’s families $8.5 million in compensatory damages and $25 million in punitive damages.