Suing for false imprisonment?

[salvadore94]

A few months back I was arrested on four counts of disorderly conduct and one count resisting arrest. I was taken to prison and spent 2 days there. I was then suspended from work for a week. I have no previous record and am 22 years old. I went to court today and the police officer that arrested me dropped all of the charges because he had no case. Basically, I was arrested for slamming a door and giving a cop an attitude. My question: is there any way to file a law suit against the officer for what I had to go through? Also, what would my chances of winning be?

[jarl]

good luck proving that...

[josephus]

nope. the officer was acting in good faith. but a word of advice, wether the cop is right or wrong, do what ever they are asking of you. if you have a complaint take it up with his/her dept later. otherwise it just looks bad on you.

[gwen]

First, you will need a lawyer that will be willing to take the case. Not many will because you have a very, very weak case. The burden of proof in on you to prove that the officer did this out of malice and for no other reason. Just because the prosecution dropped the charges does mean that you proved your case. It only means that they do not feel there was enough evidence to prove their side.

If you want to take this on by yourself without a lawyer, I wish you the best of luck. You do know that the city will have a lawyer to represent the police department, right? And do you know enough about the law to take on a qualified lawyer? Probably not since you are here asking this question.


*EDIT* - So you got mad because the person you needed to pick something up from was on break and unavailable? If that's all that it was about, you have a serious anger management issue you should seek help for. People are allowed to take breaks at work (I'm guessing it was a lunch break), and can go out to eat on their break if they like at many companies.

So I can understand completely why the officer acted as he did. And you not cooperating only added to it. But nothing you stated would be grounds for a case of "false imprisonment." Just be glad that they decided to drop the charges.

[ahanu]

You were not Falsely Imprisoned.

For starters a Police Officer can detain you if they have probable cause to believe a crime has been committed.

If you were to try and prove False Imprisonment you will have to prove:
(1) willful detention; (2) without consent; and (3) without authority of law.

Sure you were not consenting to the wilful detention by the Police. But you would have to prove the Officer Arresting you did not have "Authority of Law".

A more likely case though, you may be able to Sue the Police Officer for "derelict in duty". In that the Police Office in arresting you was neglecting proper procedures, causing you to be locked up for two days longer than you should had been.
Many Police Officers face charges like this, and as a result most Police Departments will defend their members with State Funding (so you will need a really good lawyer to beat them) or will simply make a settlement with you to save the hassle.