Police Arrest Over a False Charge

[imnotdavidxnsx]

My question involves police conduct in the State of: California

SORRY THIS IS LONG! THIS HAS BEEN ONGOING FOR 5 MONTHS NOW!

A girl I was seeing turned out to be quite insane, as she called the police after an argument and accused me of rape. We have never even had sex. Regardless, the police came to my house and arrested me on rape charges, based on her word. I spent a week in jail before the DA dropped the charges, based on total lack of evidence.

Were the police within their rights to arrest me, rather than detaining me, which I said I'd be happy to go along with?

I never resisted detainment, only expressed my belief the arrest might be illegal. One of the arresting officers even told me privately that he believes I am innocent, but I was still arrested.

Also, I have provided evidence to the police that this rape was reported falsely and maliciously, but the police refuse to investigate my accuser, criminally. I know I have a civil case, but don't I have a criminal case against her as well? I'm not really looking for money, nor do I expect she would pay anything I won in civil court. I'm interested in criminal justice. I know filing a false police report is a misdemeanor, if you do it knowingly and maliciously.

I tried filing a personnel complaint against the officers for refusing to investigate the matter. The department that deals with complaints is refusing to properly investigate or even file the complaint! It sometimes takes weeks of phone calls to hear back from one supervisor. I am so frustrated....I am now considering a case against the police department itself.

I've been making phone calls and sending letters since July of this year. It is currently Dec. of '08, and I've made virtually no progress in convincing the police department to press criminal charges or even investigate this matter.

[BOR]

My question involves police conduct in the State of: California

Were the police within their rights to arrest me, rather than detaining me, which I said I'd be happy to go along with?

I never resisted detainment, only expressed my belief the arrest might be illegal. One of the arresting officers even told me privately that he believes I am innocent, but I was still arrested.

The CONSTITUTIONAL standard for ARREST is Probable Cause.

This recent case outlines the facts of a false arrest suit and qualified immunity of officers.

What is probable cause:

At B:

The jury was instructed that, for respondent to prevail on either his federal- or state-law claim, he must demonstrate that petitioners arrested him without probable cause, App. 199-201; and that probable cause exists "if the facts and circumstances within the arresting officer's knowledge are sufficient to warrant a prudent person to conclude that the suspect has committed, is committing, or was about to commit a crime...

http://supreme.justia.com/us/543/03-710/case.html


Only those involved, alleged victim and alleged actor, and the officers, know the facts. For a crime of such magnitude, the MERE word of a woman without any visible on scene trauma, injury, etc. would certainly caution a prudent officer to further investigate, yes instead of rush to arrest.

For a false arrest claim to prevail, at minimum, you must prove that the allegation was simply made with no supporting evidence for the police to take constitutional credence in.

[imnotdavidxnsx]

thank you very much. It sounds like I do not have a case, as far as the actual arrest, because the magnitude of the accusation broadens what would be considered probably cause for the arrest.

How about in regards to the department's unwillingness to investigate her false police reporting? Their internal affairs office and the community police review commission both refuse to the pressure the department to investigate. I am certain there is evidence out there, other than the circumstantial evidence I've provided them, i.e. e-mails from my accuser to friends/family, testimony from friends/family who have asked her about the event.

[BOR]

thank you very much. It sounds like I do not have a case, as far as the actual arrest, because the magnitude of the accusation broadens what would be considered probably cause for the arrest.

How about in regards to the department's unwillingness to investigate her false police reporting? Their internal affairs office and the community police review commission both refuse to the pressure the department to investigate. I am certain there is evidence out there, other than the circumstantial evidence I've provided them, i.e. e-mails from my accuser to friends/family, testimony from friends/family who have asked her about the event.

For a DA to drop the charges, it generally means the probable cause for arrest has suddenly been negated and or further investigation is warranted before a formal charge and Indictment. BUT that does not mean the arrest was not constitutionally valid?? We don't know WHY it was dropped.


If the police are slow, try personally contacting the DA who actually dismissed the charge and see what his or her thoughts are on criminally prosecuting the woman.

[imnotdavidxnsx]

I was told that the DA never filed the charges because of a lack of evidence. There was no further investigation.

I have contacted the DA's office multiple times. They insist that they cannot begin the process of prosecuting or investigating unless the police department initiates it. They also stated they are as confused as I am as to why the police department will not do that. They claim their hands are tied.

The DA's office is who told me to file an internal affairs complaint, and they told me to contact the community police review commission when Internal Affairs began faltering. Now, the CPRC is slighting me as well.

A manager there told me my claim was not valid, and I later discovered he hadn't even read the claim. Internal Affairs never sent them a copy, and refused to when I requested it. I personally visited the office to submit a copy on Thursday, Dec. 18th, and was told I'd receive a phone call on Monday, Dec. 22. Instead, their office was closed for the entire week, I'm guessing for the holidays.

[BOR]

I truly understand your frustration. I don't know what to tell you except keep on thier tails, or the more prudent thing to do is consult a Civil Rights attorney.


Could be the PC to arrest by the officer's was not constitutional at all.

Good luck to you!!

[imnotdavidxnsx]

Thank you. That's what I suspect as well. Otherwise, I don't see why everyone in the department would be so defensive, while the DA's office completely disagrees with their actions.

I will try to remember to update with thread with any important developments.

[cdwjava]

Were the police within their rights to arrest me, rather than detaining me, which I said I'd be happy to go along with?

An arrest requires a relatively lower burden of proof than a conviction. It only requires that the police have "probable cause" to believe that a crime has been committed and that the person arrested committed the crime. They do not need to have absolute proof of guilt before making an arrest.

Also, I have provided evidence to the police that this rape was reported falsely and maliciously, but the police refuse to investigate my accuser, criminally.

Then sue her in civil court. The burden of proof for a civil suit is much lower than for a criminal case and your chance of prevailing is greater than the state's is for prosecuting her. It will be almost impossible to prove her claims to be false just as it is to prove them true.

I know I have a civil case, but don't I have a criminal case against her as well?

Apparently the state does not wish to pursue it. You can speak to the DA's office, but I suspect they will suggest you call the police.

I'm interested in criminal justice. I know filing a false police report is a misdemeanor, if you do it knowingly and maliciously.

And this is a very difficult burden of proof to meet unless the suspect confesses. This charge is rarely prosecuted successfully so it is rarely pursued.

I tried filing a personnel complaint against the officers for refusing to investigate the matter. The department that deals with complaints is refusing to properly investigate or even file the complaint!

The law does not require the police to investigate every allegation, or most ANY allegation, for that matter. There are very few offenses for which the police are required to take action and this is not one fo them. If they did not take the complaint, then it is because whoever reviewed your complaint determined that this was not a violation of policy or law. You can certainly ask to speak to a supervisor or someone higher up in the food chain if you wish.

It sometimes takes weeks of phone calls to hear back from one supervisor. I am so frustrated....I am now considering a case against the police department itself.

If so, you will pay a lot of money for an attorney to tell you that you are out of luck. Investigating crimes is a political decision, not a legal one. And, as I said, this kind of case is nearly impossible to make absent a confession of some kind.

I've been making phone calls and sending letters since July of this year. It is currently Dec. of '08, and I've made virtually no progress in convincing the police department to press criminal charges or even investigate this matter.

That should tell you something.

Sorry, but you need to let it go or sue her. If you don't want to sue her, it would appear to be over.

- Carl

[cdwjava]

I was told that the DA never filed the charges because of a lack of evidence. There was no further investigation.

This is common with many offenses.

I have contacted the DA's office multiple times. They insist that they cannot begin the process of prosecuting or investigating unless the police department initiates it. They also stated they are as confused as I am as to why the police department will not do that. They claim their hands are tied.

The DA's office will, of course, say they are surprised the police won't investigate it. That way they can wash their hands of it as it is not their responsibility. The DA's office doesn't know what the police do, so of course they will claim surprise ... plus, it helps get people out of their office if they throw the burden back to the local cops.

The DA's office is who told me to file an internal affairs complaint, and they told me to contact the community police review commission when Internal Affairs began faltering. Now, the CPRC is slighting me as well.

As I said, discretion to investigate is political, not legal. Even if the commission DOES review your complaint, I doubt they have the ability to force the department to further investigate something that has likely been looked in to as part of the original allegation and that, absent a confession, will result in criminal charges. If they had insufficient evidence to prove her claim of rape, how do you expect them to find sufficient proof of your claim that she made the accusation falsely? We are back to your word against hers.

The CPRC (assuming it is Riverside's) reviews allegations of police misconduct. The exercise of discretion is not generally going to be misconduct, it is a political decision made by the agency and properly handled within that agency's structure. If you have had little luck by phone speaking with a supervisor, lieutenant, or captain, then GO to the department and demand to see one of them.

- Carl

[imnotdavidxnsx]

cdwjava, thank you very much for your feedback!

I WOULD like to sue this woman in civil court, but I know my case would be much stronger if the rape kit done on myself was completed. It will certainly show a complete absence of her DNA in my genital area. The only problem is that the police will not complete this rape kit, unless a criminal investigation is spurred that requires its completion. Since they will not investigate her, I cannot acquire this evidence for my battle in civil court. So it would help me for two reasons to be able to convince the police to aid me in all this.

While it seems to be a lost cause to continue dealing with the police department, I will do so anyway. It is my belief that if the laws are such that my accuser can escape any criminal charges for what she has done, then there is something wrong with the laws.

Maybe if all falsely accused spent as much time fighting the issue as I have, my side of the matter would gain more political support (because, as you said, this is all politics). I suspect most people, just interested in money, take their accuser to civil court and ignore the police, and sometimes just ignore both and go on with their lives. I don't find I can do either, for my own ethical reasons.

I do agree with you that I should speak with a supervisor in person, if only for the fact the only picture any of these people have seen of me is a mug shot. I will do this during the coming week.

Also, a side note regarding probably cause; the way I look at it is this: when the police initially show up, I am to be treated as innocent until proven guilty. For the sake of argument, however, let's assume a 50/50 chance of guilt upon arrival at my home. Right away, they are not within their rights to arrest me. Now, factor in the statistic that 42% of reported rape cases in the US turn out to be false. Now we're down to almost a 25% chance that I am guilty, and 75% chance this girl is lying. Combined with a calm demeanor, detailed story, a hickey on my neck (from her), full compliance with officers, and a witness who claims he saw us having a calm conversation outside my home right before she called the police, I do not believe the police had probable cause to arrest me (in her version of the story, by the way, I'm yelling at her and calling her names during this argument, a lie in itself).

Also, she went outside to first phone a friend after the allegedly occurred incident. I actually caught her on the phone, telling a friend she was raped. This is what spurred the argument, during which I told her she was crazy, and she needed to go inside, get her purse, and never come back to my house again (yes, she attests to having been raped, but went outside without her purse, with clearly no intent of leaving). At this point, she got very angry, threw her hand in my face, grabbed her purse (yes, she went back into my home, even though I had supposedly just raped her), stormed out of my house, drove off...THEN called 911 and said she was raped. She even admits to the police in her statement that she called a friend first and only dialed 911 after I caught her on the phone with a friend, called her crazy (although it is "psycho bitch" in her version) and told her to leave my home.

They claim she seemed believable because she was crying, which I find ridiculous. Any seasoned officer should know people are capable of crying while lying through their teeth. I know a couple women who say they have done this just to attempt getting out of traffic tickets. This is certainly not enough reason, combined with a simple story of rape, to warrant probable cause for an immediate arrest. Does this all sound correct? The definition of probable cause is that there is more reason to believe the act did occur than did not, not that the act may have occurred at all.