Legal Question in Criminal Law in Maryland
false arrest
i was arrested for possession with intent to sell 14 grams of cocaine which was in fact nitro glycerin Th police paperwork indicated several mistakes were made such as weighing drug in the bottle, test at scene was negative but suddenly turnd positive at the police station.
several weeks later I was arrested, before official test was completed. final lab tests proved 100% nitro - all charges dropped in december. Incident caused me income (I was demoted) total embarresment with my company. my lawyer at th time says he doesn't think i can win a lawsuit against police but won't say why, but he is not the type that wants to challenge the police. i let it go but wheaton police had stopped me at least 6 times that summer but i had always had all charges been dropped. In 1981 i had been arrested for selling a joint in fla. it was a class a felony then, so when they pull up my license plate it comes up ''known drug dealer'' and i was a viet nam protester so it comes up ''with a fbi file. qustion do i have grounds for false arrest file and have i waited to long
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: false arrest
Whether you file a civil suit against the police department and the officer(s) who arrested you depends on whether you can prove that it is more likely than not that they had no reason to stop and arrest you and whether you can prove that you have damages substantial enough to cover the cost of litigating the case.
Dismissal of the charges does not guarantee that could not show that they had probable cause to stop and arrest you. Litiagation is expensive and while you may want to send a message to the police about harassing you, finding a lawyer to join you in a moral pursuit may be a challenge.
However you can search for civil litgation or tort lawyers at lawguru.com. Good luck.
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