Legal Question in Criminal Law in Pennsylvania

Re: assault and strong armed robbery

Sure. Your cousin can file a personal injury action against this person. Odds are, however, that they may not have assets to cover the injury. However, if she wants to pursue this and seek any assets the person may have in their name (who knows, maybe a house) then she can file a civil action, take default judgment, and execute upon the house.

Re: assault and strong armed robbery

If she consults with an attorney, and she feels the charges are not sufficient, she may swear out or "prefer" charges against the assailant, but with few exceptions, the state prosecutor must prosecute those charges, so you would probably want to speak with the prosecutor first. Of course she can file a personal injury claim, but as other's had said, it does no good to get a $1 million verdict unless there is a chance of collecting, so much work needs to be done before deciding to move forward with a PI claim against the assailant. WHERE did the attack occur? Was she impacted by any one else's negligence???

Re: assault and strong armed robbery

Sure, your cousin can file a basic personal injury action against her assailant but the question is does this person have any money or will this person ever have any money? So your cousin needs to ask herself what she wants to get out of the action. If she wants to be fully compensated for her loss monetarily she may not accomplish her goal.