Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California

Re: Citizens Arrest

Your new neighbor sounds like a real jerk. He can't arrest you for complaining about his trespass to your property (and, technically, intentionally spraying water on your yard and house is a trespass). Spraying you was an assault, albeit a rather minor one. If anyone has a grievance here, it seems to be you.

Citizen's arrest is a rather arcane area of law, but it seems a prerequisite to such an action would have to be the reasonable belief that the arrestee had committed an arrestable offense. If he tried this on you he wouldn't be able to hold you for long; he'd have to notify the authorities and then you would be able to explain yourself to them. Once the police decide there are no grounds for arrest, you'd probably have a pretty good case against this guy.

You say that he's an attorney. If he's using his bar membership to intimidate you, you might be able to report him to the state or local bar.

Unfortunately, such disputes between neighbors get worse over time far more often than they get better. Whatever steps you take -- including doing nothing -- may lead to bigger problems down the road. Good luck.