A false arrest is the restraint or detention by one person of another without lawful justification (probable cause or a valid arrest warrant) under an asserted legal authority to enforce the process of the law.
Typically, plaintiffs bringing allegations of false arrest against state authorities need to prove all three of the elements outlined below. The arrest was inappropriate. The person detained suffered harm. An officer was the cause of the injury.
Often overlapping with false imprisonment, the intentional tort of false arrest involves someone being held against their will or taken into custody without consent or a legal justification. This can give rise to a civil claim for damages.
A conservative estimate is that you can get $1,000 per hour of wrongful incarceration. This figure can go up to many thousands of dollars per hour if aggravating factors apply. For instance, if you had medical complications after your arrest and had to go to the hospital in handcuffs, then your payout could be higher.
A conservative estimate is that you can get $1,000 per hour of wrongful incarceration. This figure can go up to many thousands of dollars per hour if aggravating factors apply. For instance, if you had medical complications after your arrest and had to go to the hospital in handcuffs, then your payout could be higher.
An illegal detention happens when an officer stops you without reasonable suspicion or continues to hold you without probable cause to arrest. Probable cause means they have some evidence linking you to a crime.
Gather evidence: If possible, try to remember details of the arrest, like the officer's name and any witnesses. Contact an attorney: Talk to a lawyer specializing in wrongful arrest. They can advise you on your legal options, which may include filing a lawsuit against the arresting officer or department.
In situations in which a person has been unlawfully detained or falsely arrested, civil rights attorneys can help victims by bringing a civil rights lawsuit. Civil rights attorneys devote their careers to defending and bringing justice to people who were wronged by those in positions of power.
The federal standard to compensate those who are wrongfully convicted is a minimum of $50,000 per year of incarceration, plus an additional amount for each year spent on death row. Those proven to have been wrongfully convicted through post-conviction DNA testing spend, on average, more than 14 years behind bars.
Victims of unlawful detention can seek various remedies, including filing complaints against the involved officers or law enforcement agency, motions to exclude evidence obtained during the detention, and federal or state lawsuits for injunctions or monetary damages.