Arrest, Search, Seizure, Warrant wrongful arrest statute of limitations

Status
Not open for further replies.

HiOSilver

New Member
In May 1999, my mother-in-law made a false statement to the police saying that I assaulted her. The next day, the police came to my office and arrested me. I spent the next year appearing in court in an effort to have the case dropped since I did not assault my mother-in-law. The case was finally dropped on May 30th due to insufficient evidence. Since then, I've I tried to forget about it, but the whole ordeal continues to haunt me. Now it is May 2001 and I want to know if it is too late to file a charge against my mother-in-law. Someone told me that by lieing to the police to have me arrested, she committed 'malicious persecution' and perjury. IS there such a violation called 'malicious persecution'? Do I have a case against her?
 
You probably mean malicious prosecution. If you are asking about a civil case, there are several theories which you may be able to bring suit such as that one, including intentional infliction of emotional distress, amongst several others. Statutes of limitations vary per state and theory and also an important issue is when the statute of limitations begins. This may begin from the date that you were cleared of the charges since at that point it was clear that the prosecution was malicious. Statutes of limitations vary and I have seen 3 and 6 year limitations. It would seem that it has only been at most 2 years so this is something you may want to investigate further.

A criminal prosection for perjury would have to be brought by the People (DA) and not you. You would need to bring it up with the DA's office.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top