Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

Re: can this be legal

Yes, it is legal as long as there is some rational basis the charges. The allegation does not have to be based on the police report. Bottom line - they can pretty much charge you with whatever they want. It is up to you to prove yourself innocent. If charges are completely baseless your attorney should have them dismissed quickly.

Jacek W. Lentz, Esq.

310.273.1361

www.lentzlawfirm.com

Re: can this be legal

Yes. What you describe is perfectly legal.

Prosecutors are not limited by what the police report says, and there is no reason why they should be so limited. Police reports are often the product of relatively short investigations, and are conducted by officers who lack subpoena power and who typically know much less about the criminal law than do prosecutors.

Remember that police reports must usually be completed relatively quickly. No one claims that a police report is the definitive analysis of an alleged crime, so there is no reason to treat it as such.

After prosecutors have investigated the case more thoroughly, they will often come up with evidence the police did not have when they wrote their report. Additionally, they sometimes recognize crimes that the police officers may not have recognized during their review of the case.

The interests of justice would not be served by letting criminal suspects off the hook just because police officers did not realize at first that a case could be made against them.