Arrest, Search, Seizure, Warrant False Arrest in Illinois

[kimj0192]

I have a friend who was falsely arrested, she is innocent. The police came to her house and arrested her. They treated her horribly and kept on asking her why she did it, she had no idea what they were talking about. The police did not believe her & really thought she committed a crime. The more she denied it the more mad the officers got. After getting to the police station they finally showed her a picture & told her we have all the evidence we need to prosecute you. The picture they had was her sister not her. They still didn't believe her, and kept asking her what is wrong with you, how can you blame your family. Finally they went to her sister's house where she admitted it was her in the picture and that it was her who committed the crime. After spending 3 hours in a holding cell she was let go. The police didn't even apologize to her. If they hadn't showed her a picture or if her sister had lied and said nope thats not me, my poor friend would've spent the night in jail for nothing. Also if the picture they had wasn't her sister, but a stranger she would've really been screw*d. The picture wasn't clear & the person was looking down. She only recognized it was her sister by the shirt she had on. Does she have any legal rights on doing anything? She was late for work, treated like crap & didn't even receive an apology. Thats what she is most mad about, the fact that they didn't even apologize to her.

 

[Sibee]

There is relay no legal recourse for the situation. She could attempt a lawsuit based on a false arrest but it will likely cost her more time and money then its worth.

 

[raskalnikov]

For the most part I have to agree with Sibee. The fact she was able to pinpoint the perpetrator of the crime, and it was her sister of all people, shows the police were on the right path to find the criminal. Sorry. I wish the police weren't so rude to your friend. There may be a liason officer in their department that deals with the public that you can contact to let your opinions be known.

Good Luck! I'm curious to know if they knew your friend all along wasn't guilty, and they just wanted her testimony against her sister. . .

 

[CdwJava]

I have a friend who was falsely arrested, she is innocent. The police came to her house and arrested her.

The legal burden for an arrest is probable cause to believe that a crime was committed, and that the person arrested committed the crime. If it is ultimately determined that the person did NOT commit the crime, this does not automatically mean that there is any recourse against the police. As long as their conclusions are legally reasonable and "probable cause" is found to have existed, then they are clear.

The police did not believe her & really thought she committed a crime.

Which explains why they arrested her.

She was late for work, treated like crap & didn't even receive an apology. Thats what she is most mad about, the fact that they didn't even apologize to her.

She can complain to the agency by contacting a supervisor or administrator and vent her frustrations that way. She can also pay an attorney to do this on her behalf. If she has a lot of money to spend for little or no gain, she can even try to sue them. Though, as I said, it seems they had probable cause to believe the suspect was her so a case for "false arrest" is going to be tough.

- Carl

 

[MISTIBLUE]

The police do that all the time. They make mistakes too. But if I were her, I would write an article in the paper stating what had happen and ask the police officers nicely to apologize.