false reporting in Colorado

[broken_heart]

If someone tells a hospital false information, like they claim someone is injuring themselves when they know they are not, and that hospital passes it on to the police - and the police arrive and verify the person is not injuring themselves

is that considered false reporting to authorities?

is it considered false reporting even though it is a report made to the hospital? and not law enforcement directly?

 

[CdwJava]

If someone tells a hospital false information, like they claim someone is injuring themselves when they know they are not, and that hospital passes it on to the police - and the police arrive and verify the person is not injuring themselves

is that considered false reporting to authorities?

What did the police say when they arrived and found it not to be true?

How do you KNOW the party who made the report absolutely KNEW the person was not harming themself? Can you also show that the reporting party made the report knowing it to be false and doing so maliciously or intentionally to cause the other person distress or harm in some way?

is it considered false reporting even though it is a report made to the hospital? and not law enforcement directly?

It might be ... but it will take a whole lot more than the police responding to do a welfare check and discovering things are okay to justify a criminal complaint or a civil claim for damages.

 

[broken_heart]

well there are two cases. I'm a mental health advocate and I'm baffled about this.

Case #1
person A, who contacted a hospital, was WITH person B, and the interaction was videotaped and thus proven to show that person A knew person B was not harming themselves even though they called the hospital to say they were.

Trying to figure out if person A committed false reporting by saying to the police the person was harming themselves, even saying to the hospital that person B was bleeding, when person B was clearly not bleeding.

Person A has written angry emails to the person about finding out person B has a history of being a cutter/self injurer and this interaction was about those emails. Person B walked away telling person A to "leave me alone" and "I don't need your help." and person A called the hospital saying they had been with them and they were bleeding from their arms (seen on the videotape as not bleeding) and needed to be hospitalized.


Case #2
Person C called a hospital (different hospital) and said they were having suicidal thoughts and was too upset to come to the hospital. The hospital called police stating they were concerned person B was harming themselves. Person C called while on the way to their doctor, but the police were sent to the home of Person C. (Hospital never confirmed where they were.) Person C got medication to calm down and went home. 5 hours later the police came by the home of person C, this time person C was there, and police only asked person C "Are you ok". Person C only said "yes, I'm not in need of any help the police can provide." The police left.

Trying to figure out if person C committed false reporting to authorities by saying to the hospital they didn't want to live but then being found "ok" by police 5 hours later.

person C has said to us they were really sucidial at the time they made the statement to the hospital they were, and still felt suicidal when the police came later, but truly believed the police could not help them.



I'm trying to figure out if charges of "false reporting to authorities" are legit, if charge is based on what people told a hospital facility, not the police.

 

[irish223]

Note to posters:

http://www.thelaw.com/forums/showthread.php?t=43908

 

[broken_heart]

they are not linked matters.

 

[CdwJava]

About all that can be done is to mention this to the police. I suspect that absent some motive or malicious intent can be established, no crime report will be made.

If someone has suffered harm as a result of knowing and intentional false statement to the authorities, then they can consult an attorney to see if they have a valid civil case.

Being wrong or misinterpreting statements is NOT criminal and not likely to result in civil culpability. If that were the case, no one would ever consider reporting people with mental health issues for fear of being prosecuted or sued. Many people with mental health issues will tell a third party they have harmed themselves or intend to do harm to themselves, yet have not done so. Even if no visible injury is seen at the moment of last contact by the reporting party, their reporting what they believe may have already happened o may be about to happen is not - by itself - malicious or criminal.

In your hypotheticals, I see no chance of charges against Person C, and little chance of charges against Person A absent some finding of malicious intent.

 

[army judge]

If a concerned citizen reports a suspected crime or an attempt by someone harm themselves to the police, they are held harmless.

Citizens are requested to report dangerous or criminal matters to the police.

The reporting party need not know all the details of what they report, so long as it's done in good faith.

Proving there was malice or false intent is nearly impossible. And, even if it's proven there was malice or untruthful intent, the police (the state) would be the victim, not the person the OP inquires about.