Court documents revealed that a settlement was reached between a Georgia woman and her former in-laws in a wrongful death lawsuit that they filed against her. The details of the settlement have not been released.
The woman is serving a five-year sentence in northeast Georgia, and the news of the settlement came just two days prior to a scheduled bond hearing. In August, the woman was convicted on charges of hindering the investigation and perjury in connection with the November 2010 murder of her husband by her former supervisor. The lawsuit was filed by the man’s parents and brother a little before the defendant’s August 2012 indictment on murder charges, which were dropped the night prior to her criminal trial.
According to the lawsuit, the woman knew about and actively participated in the planning of the murder and the actual murder. The woman’s civil attorneys made the counter-argument that one of the plaintiffs violated Georgia law by publicly accusing the defendant of co-conspiracy of a murder and, at the same time, calling for investigations into whether or not the allegations he made against the defendant were true and filing a lawsuit to determine the truth of his allegations.
In some cases, it may be possible to settle a wrongful death lawsuit out of court. A plaintiff may prefer this outcome because it might avoid a long and stressful court trial with an uncertain outcome. If negotiations are successful, the plaintiff may receive a fair settlement without a lengthy litigation process. If no agreement can be reached, it may be necessary to take the case to civil court for a decision.
Source: Atlanta Journal Constitute , “Andrea Sneiderman, in-laws reach settlement in wrongful death lawsuit “, Christian Boone, December 07, 2013