Legal Question in Criminal Law in Massachusetts

Falsification of a Police Report, lawsuit/damages
Facts:
I had an arrest for an A&B DW (shod foot) in MA. The alleged victim spoke almost no English at the time, and no foreign language interpreter (Russian) was provided. Based solely on their report, I was arrested. I had many witnesses from the night in question refuting the charges (7 witnesses), but the police declined to interview any of them. I was indicted, and the case was pushed all the way to trial, when the victim refused to testify due to a cross-complaint (took 5th amendment right) and the case was dismissed at the request of the commonwealth (Nolle Prosequi). Three years and $15,000 in attorney's fees later, the alleged victim signed an affidavit asserting that the claims made by the police regarding their statements were false, that the police had intentionally misrepresented the witness statements, and that interpretation services were refused to them prior to signing a written statement; this 'victim' had no idea what they were signing.

Question:
Would it be possible to have a realistic lawsuit against the Commonwealth or the Police Department in question for incompetence/falsifying a report which led to these attorneys fees as damages? Could the Police forced to release all case evidence by court motion?

Asked on 3/25/09, 12:54 pm

2 Answers from Attorneys

George Davis Law Office of T. George Davis, Jr.

0 users found helpful

0 attorneys agreed

Re: Falsification of a Police Report, lawsuit/damages

Based on what I've read, I think you're a long way away from bringing a "realistic lawsuit" against the police department. In order to better evaluate the case, however, you would have to provide an attorney with more information, and that person would have to make some additional inquiry.

Answered on 3/25/09, 1:05 pm

Mark as helpful