[Hogster]

Long story short. I was falsely accused of a crime, arrested and then acquitted. I was wondering what the statute of limitations for filing a law suit against this individual. I heard 1 year from the time of my arrest, but that doesn’t make sense…… maybe 1 year from the date I was acquitted?

[Mr. Knowitall]

As you were told when you posted, laws are different in each state.

[Hogster]

My apologies …. My question would be for the state of California.

[caselfrepresentation]

A cause of action for false imprisonment (which can be brought in theory against a private individual whose conduct induced a false arrest) must be brought within one year. CCP § 340(c). The trigger for that date is likely to be the date of your release, given the general rule that the statute of limitations does not begin to run until the date of the last injury (i.e. you were suffering injuries to your freedom until released.)

There may be other causes of actions you can bring that have different statutes of limitations.

On a side note, and a perhaps more troubling issue, is whether your complaint is premised on statements made by the potential defendant to the arresting authorities. A fairly recent ca supreme court case (Hagberg / 2004) broadly holds such statements privileged even when made with malicious intent (i.e. those statements cannot be the basis for a false imprisonment claim.) Something to look at.

[Hogster]

caselfrepresentation thank you for your feedback. I was actually never prisoned..... my wife bailed me out a few hours after my arrest, but I'm sure that the one year statute of limitations would be the same. Now I can relax knowing I have six more months.