In The Sweet Hereafter, Mitchell Stephens is an attorney who plans to represent the families of those killed or injured in the bus accident. He is involved not in a criminal case but in a civil suit. The families are not pursuing criminal charges but will be seeking restitution and damages that will help with medical and other expenses. As Stephens starts to put the case together, he realizes that the state probably cannot charge bus driver Dolores Driscoll with a crime. There are multiple parties that can be held responsible, including the school district and the bus company; any awards made would come from their insurance or other funds already budgeted for such purposes. There would be no point in Stephens pursuing Delores, as he knows she has no money.
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