You have a legal right to recover if someone else was to blame, regardless of how the accident occurred. This means that you can file a lawsuit if an assault or a drunk driving accident caused the death. The civil lawsuit process is completely different from the criminal process. You still need to file a case, even if the defendant faced charges and received a conviction of a crime.You may still have a case even if the defendant received an acquittal. This is because there are different burdens of proof in the two types of cases. A criminal prosecutor will need to prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt. In a civil case, you have a lower standard, which means it is easier to prove unlawful conduct in civil court than in criminal court.You do not need to wait for a conviction to file a civil lawsuit. However, the criminal process may move faster than the civil one, and that case can resolve before your lawsuit. If the case ends in a conviction, you can use evidence of the conviction to help your civil lawsuit.