What Is Malicious Prosecution?
Few crimes are more costly, frustrating, and abusiveness to the judicial process than malicious prosecution. Malicious prosecution is when a person files a lawsuit against another person when they have no cause. They are not seeking justice.
Their purpose is to drag the person through civil or criminal court, and the stress that entails. It costs the person time and money to fight the bogus charges. When the case is over, if the person being sued is not found to be at fault, a police abuse lawyer can help them sue the person who sued him for malicious prosecution.
To successfully recover a malicious prosecution case the following items are required:
● Bringing a criminal or civil case without reasonable grounds for the allegations of the lawsuit.
○ This means they have reason to believe that the plaintiff should be legally punished for their action and that any reasonable person would believe the same.
● The purpose of the proceedings is something other than getting a judgment against the person being sued.
○ Usually, this is just a case of wanting to cause problems for the plaintiff and disrupting their lives, though the person suing knows they have no case.
● The proceeding was ended in favor of the person being prosecuted.
○ In order for you to sue the person who sued you, the courts would have to have ruled in your favor in the original case against you.
Can you sue the person who maliciously sued you?
In most cases, you can. Many times, a countersuit is the only recourse you have in stopping the person who is taking advantage of the system to persecute you. It is important to hire a qualified and experienced attorney to represent you in the action and to ensure that all the legal criteria have been met to succeed in the case.
Damages
If the case causes you damages, your attorney can seek recovery for those losses. This includes damage to your reputation, any lost business dealings due to the scandal, and damages for the time spent on the case and in the trial. In some cases, you can also recover money for the stress and emotional damage you suffered.
What if you are targeted by a prosecutor?
There are times when a prosecutor seems to target a person and goes after them, continuously trying to prove they are guilty of something. This is not the norm, but it happens. The problem is, if the law did not protect prosecutors from people who claim they are targeted, they would be forever defending themselves.
Therefore, prosecutors normally carry legal immunity against being sued. However, if your attorney can show that the prosecutor operated outside the law, the immunity can be set aside. This is a very serious charge, and the judge will consider it very carefully. Abuse of power in our system is not acceptable under the law.
Malicious persecution should be addressed as soon as you suspect a problem. Do not attempt to handle this on your own. Contact an attorney for assistance immediately.