Legal Question in Criminal Law in Louisiana
False charges filed against me
I want to ask if I have any recourse because of false charges being filed against me. I was charged with damage to property under $100.00 by the Sheriff's Department. (I can prove this is not his property). The neighbor who attacked me was charged with simple battery for shoving me. It is a long and unbelievable story of a horrible neighbor situation. I was told by Justice of the Peace, etc., that my charge had been changed from less than $100.00 property damage to simple battery. This made no sense whatsoever to me. I tried to get information on this and had no luck. I finally called the DA's office last week and asked how/why my charged was changed and why no one informed me of this. They kept insisting this was my original charge. The assistant to the DA said the office goes over each charge and decides what to charge you with. I called back the next day and the man I spoke with said again this was my original charge. I explained I had the summons in front of me and that was incorrect. I received a call today, informing me the battery charge was incorrect. I have been worried sick over this for over a year. Shouldn't they drop all charges for making this mistake?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: False charges filed against me
I cannot say what someone should do unless I know all of the facts (including the ones that you might not know).
A person is formally charged for a crime by the District Attorney. This is called prosecutoral discretion and it is a matter of Constitutional Law. The district attorney has the absolute right to charge you according to his interpretation of the facts and the law, no matter what the police (or sheriff) might think is appropriate.
As far as a lawsuit, the district attorney is immune from suit for the decisions made in the course of his duties.
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