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  1. #1

    Default Can I Sue a Magistrate for Issuing a Warrant Without Any Evidence

    My question involves criminal law for the state of: Tennessee


    I am incredibly frustrated, on Dec. 30th I told my husband I wanted a divorce. For the next 24 hours my husband begged me to give him another chance but I just couldn't, he left the house in the evening on Dec. 31st and told me he would be back at 9am Jan. 1st 2012 to get his clothes. At 9:25am on New Years day my husband and 2 police officers showed up at our house and they arrested me for domestic violence which is 100% false, I have never touched/hit anyone in my life. While I was in the back of the police car two 26' moving trucks showed up so this had to have been planned the day before as I don't know any moving company that would have been open that early on New Years Day, he needed me out of the way so he could take everything (3 more were there the next day). I was required to stay in jail for 12 hours and during that time my husband moved all the furniture, my car, my personal items, my cat, basically everything I own out of our 10,000 sq. foot home (approx. half a million dollars worth of marital assets and approx. $200K of my personal items to another state. My husband went to the Magistrate for Williamson County with just his word that I had hit him, NO evidence, NOTHING and was granted a warrant for my arrest...He said I hit him on the top of his head as he was leaving but he didn't know with what, he didn't have any blood, didn't have a bump, wasn't red, nothing, again just his word that I hit him.

    Can I sue the Magistrate for issuing this warrant for Domestic Violence that never happened??? Or can I sue my husband for falsely accusing me, I have never been in handcuffs or in jail, this has been the absolute worst thing I have ever been through.

    By the way he is 6'5 300lbs and I am 5'6 140lbs

    All I wanted was a divorce and this is what I get???

  2. #2
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    Default Re: Can I Sue a Magistrate for Issuing a Warrant for Dv Without Any Evidence

    No, you can't sue the Magistrate.

    The physical differences between your husband and yourself are completely irrelevant.

    For the rest, you need a divorce attorney.

  3. #3
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    Default Re: Can I Sue a Magistrate for Issuing a Warrant for Dv Without Any Evidence

    Judicial immunity is a very high hurdle to overcome ... very high indeed.

  4. #4

    Default Re: Can I Sue a Magistrate for Issuing a Warrant for Dv Without Any Evidence

    I do have a very good divorce attorney, and I do understand the physical differences between by husband and I are irrelevant it is just this whole thing is completely ridiculous.

  5. #5
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    Default Re: Can I Sue a Magistrate for Issuing a Warrant for Dv Without Any Evidence

    To clarify: You can't sue a magistrate for issuing a warrant, but you can sue the state for damages incurred as a result of a falsely issued warrant; the magistrate is acting as an agent for the state, and so ultimate responsibility rests with them.

    However, if the warrant was issued on the strength of your husband's false statement, you may not be able to win a case against the state because they had evidence in the form of your husband's word which they reasonably believed was truthful. In that case, you can definitely sue your husband.

    You should definitely see an attorney either way; preferably one who can handle both the divorce and the damages from the arrest, as a suit against your husband for the false police report can give you leverage in the divorce, and having a single attorney makes it easier to, for example, negotiate an agreement to drop the suit in exchange for an especially favourable settlement to the divorce although even with two attorneys your case should be well-handled as long as you advise each of the situation with the other. While only your attorney can give you legal advice as to the best way to proceed, I can speculate that (s)he might recommend suing both the state and your husband, since filing a lawsuit gives you discovery rights, and then dropping the claim against one defendant and proceeding against the other based on the information obtained during discovery.

  6. #6
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    Default Re: Can I Sue a Magistrate for Issuing a Warrant for Dv Without Any Evidence

    Quote Quoting TheArgumentative
    View Post
    To clarify: You can't sue a magistrate for issuing a warrant, but you can sue the state for damages incurred as a result of a falsely issued warrant; the magistrate is acting as an agent for the state, and so ultimate responsibility rests with them.
    You're going to have an almost impossible time suing the magistrate. First off, cases like this are not the sort of thing that Tennessee has abrogated sovereign immunity over. Second, there doesn't even seem to be a shred of indication of any malfeasance on the magistrates part and certainly not to the extent to prevail in a court case.
    However, if the warrant was issued on the strength of your husband's false statement, you may not be able to win a case against the state because they had evidence in the form of your husband's word which they reasonably believed was truthful. In that case, you can definitely sue your husband.
    Absolutely.

    Further, what damages do you think you have? Being pissed off is not actionable.

  7. #7
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    Default Re: Can I Sue a Magistrate for Issuing a Warrant for Dv Without Any Evidence

    If he took your stuff, do you have proof you owned this stuff?

    It's easy to say you owned 5000 CD's.....but do have some kind of proof like pictures? Do you have serial numbers, receipts, on stuff like electronics?

  8. #8

    Default Re: Can I Sue a Magistrate for Issuing a Warrant for Dv Without Any Evidence

    Thank you all for responding. Yes, I have 5 photo albums full of photos of my house in Scottsdale, house here in Tennessee as well as photos of all the marital assets we have bought, receipts, statements from movers who drove 2 large moving trucks from my home in Arizona to Tennessee full of all my items I owned before the marriage. Damages include him taking over $200K of my items to another state (within 2 days of my arrest), taking my car and still hasn't brought it back even though the judge ordered him to, me going to jail (I have never been to jail in my life, it was a absolutely terrible thing to go through). I have been in a hotel since Jan. 1st. He has cancelled all credit cards, cell phones and took my cat hostage for 13 days until I agreed to mediation an then when I got my cat back I had to take him to pet hospital because he was so sick. This is just a few of the things he has done. My attorney tell's me it will all come out in court what has happened and I will get my items back.

    It's not that I am pissed off its that I can't believe someone can go get a warrant for someone with no proof and cause such hardship to them.

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