Thursday, February 4, 2010

A friend of mine recently was arrested on false charges. Any way to get my money back?

A friend of mine was recently arrested on false charges. He was charged for possesion, paraphanaila, and tresspassing. I went to the police station to bail him out and had to pay the bail bonds man $350+. They dropped the charges the next morning. They towed his car costing him an additional $200. Since the charges were false, none of these debts would have encrued. Is law enforcement allowed to do this?A friend of mine recently was arrested on false charges. Any way to get my money back?
To recover damages from the police, the US Supreme Court says you must show they failed to act in good faith. So I would say unless your state has a law requiring restituition for towing a car, you are out of luck.





As for the $350, no one required you post it. Your friend could have waited for arraignment the next morning and been released without posting anything.





The $350 is the fee the bail bondsman charges for posting the bail. You can look at it as labor cost for the bail bondsman putting up the bail money. It is gone forever unless you can get it back from your friend.A friend of mine recently was arrested on false charges. Any way to get my money back?
You are going to need to bring a lawsuit against the police department who made the arrest and/or the person who reported the false charges to the police. You will need to show that the police acted recklessley or with malice in most jurisdictions. Also, depending on your location, you may not even be allowed to bring the action at all in state court and may be required to make a federal case of it. Check your state's ';tort claims act'; for guidance.





You also are going to need a lawyer to do any of this, and be prepared to spend a lot more on attorney's fees than the $550 you are out.
The money you paid the bondsman was a FEE for posting bond. It is NEVER refundable. The fact the charges were dropped, does NOT mean they were false. Even if they were, if the police had valid reason to BELIEVE the charges, they are not at fault. If the court did not believe they had a valid reason, bond would not have been required in the first place.
the 350 you paid the bail bondsman is the fee they charge for writing a big check to get him out. and the towing fee is the fee. the only way for you to get your money back is from your friend who should pay it back to you.
yes, they can do this. A cop can write you a ticket and be wrong. They are allowed to make mistakes or charge someone without having enough evidence for conviction. And they are not liable for the cost you incurred unless it was gross negligence. Which this is not.
Dropped charges is not ';false charges';.


2 completely diferent issues...

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