It's a civil suit because that's how monetary damages can be awarded. These types of cases often have both a criminal and civil component - but criminal charges often get dropped in high-profile cases - but civil suits persist as the standards are different and the legal remedies are also different (punitive versus monetary).

For example - O.J. was acquitted in his criminal suit and evaded punitive damage/jail-time - but was later party to a civil suit where he the plaintiffs were awarded considerable monetary damages.

I fully expect this case to settle before it gets any uglier.

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