Legal Question in Constitutional Law in California
Citizen's Arrest during illegal eviction, DA not filing charges.
I lived on property and worked for my landlord's. When they refused to pay their bill for labor, I filed a Mechanic's lien on their property and was filing a complaint with the Labor Board. They threw me off the property under the threat of physical violence. When I returned to regain my cab-over camper (my home) and personal property, they had changed the locks on the buildings were my property was and where telephone access was installed. They left a note, stating no trespassing/ off limits/ come to the house to get your property. When I went to their house, they hid inside, would not respond to knocks and calls out until I determined something was wrong and forced the door to call 911 emergency. They then placed me under citesen's arrest for vandalism and trespassing. I was taken to jail (a 3 hour journey) and my pet was taken to the animal shelter. The DA is not filing charges. Can I sue them for false arrest and violation of my constitutional rights? They also filed a restraining order and I had to get a court Order to go back to their property and get my cab-over camper (home) and as many of my possessions as I could load in an hour.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Citizen's Arrest during illegal eviction, DA not filing charges.
You broke into their house and you don't think you should have been arrested? They were entirely within their rights to arrest you and call the police. The fact that they had acted illegally re: your property did not give you the right to commit crimes against them.
The D.A.'s decision not to charge you doesn't mean you were falsely arrested. Prosecutors often decide not to pursue cases after an arrest. Sometimes they do this because they have insufficient manpower to handle every case brought to them. In other instances they may let a case go because they don't believe they have enough evidence to prove the suspect guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. And often the D.A. sympathizes with the arrestee and decides that prosecuting him would not be in the interests of justice. My guess is that your cases falls into this category.
False arrest occurs when the person performing the arrest knows he has no legal basis for doing so. Yours is not such a case.
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