Can I sue rogue police offcr for atty fees?

[buckeye]

What is the name of your state? Ohio
I hope I'm posting in the correct forum. My question is can I sue a police officer for my atty fees? He issued me a ticket, it stated I must appear in court to answer, I had to go to court 4 times! I had to hire an atty! My case was dismissed. Also, I filed a complaint with the Internal Affairs Dept and they found the officer in misconduct and he is being discplined. I am left with atty fees bc the officer was having a bad day. It's just not fair. Thank you for your replies.

 

[panzertanker]

My question is can I sue a police officer for my atty fees?

I would ask the attorney you hired, and who knows this case, that question....

 

[buckeye]

He just smirked and said "not gonna happen". He was a friend of a friend and quite frankly, not a very good atty. He seemed more "bothered" by the whole procedure and just kept telling me to "relax". I would NEVER use him again. Friend or no friend. He actually didn't do me any favors, my case was dismissed bc I was innocent of charge. The prosecutor immediately dismissed my case when he was contacted by the Police Legal Dept. and subsequently read the IA report. But I am still stuck with his fees. Any chance in hell I could get a judgement against the policer officer for fees I'm out? Thanks for your reply

 

[tranquility]

Can you sue? Sure. Will you? No, probably not. The chance of winning is miniscule, even if you had absolute proof you were not guilty of anything. You don't have that. I don't know what you have, but suing the police is a complex and expensive task.

Give some more facts if you want, but it is extraordinarily rare for someone to sue over a traffic ticket.

 

[buckeye]

I guess having the IA complaint come out in my favor provided proof of innocense. No? And it is a ticket for "Non-Compliance" and it was absurd! Is that considered a traffic ticket?

 

[buckeye]

Also, I guess maybe I am naive to think I could sue him in small claims court, (being my own atty). It's a long story to go into but he seriously was in the wrong and all the witness' statements concur. Even a stmt from his fellow police officer states he was still angry and upset after the incident...(an incident incited and caused by his actions alone, everyone else at scene was calm and in control). I know it's probably quite difficult to sue police but when the officer was so blatantly wrong in his actions and having his superiors agree he was wrong.... does that count for nothing?

 

[dcatz]

The answer was still “no” or, as tranquility said, not likely (and no smirk).
You don’t say what the charge was, so I admittedly have to do some guessing.
The officer was acting in a representative capacity-as an agent of the legal authorities of the city, county, whatever. If you suffered injury as a result of whatever “misconduct” means, you can sue the department, city, county, whatever and, if you prevail, recover damages and your attorneys’ fees for that.
But, theoretically, the officer had probable cause to cite you for a criminal violation, probably an infraction, less likely a misdemeanor or felony, under the Vehicle Code.
You were arraigned and pled “not guilty” or you wouldn’t have been going to trial.
If it was an infraction, the judge is not even required to inform an unrepresented defendant of the right to counsel. If it was a misdemeanor or felony citation, with prospective jail time, you’re entitled to ask for appointed counsel, if you can’t afford to retain counsel. At some point, you had to waive that right or choose to retain counsel. The choice to retain counsel was yours, and you can’t recover those fees if you prevail, much less if the case is dismissed. Your case wasn’t even adjudicated on the merits; it was dismissed.

 

[buckeye]

I guess having the IA complaint come out in my favor provided proof of innocense. No? And it is a ticket for "Non-Compliance" and it was absurd! Is that considered a traffic ticket?

That is what the charge was "Non-Compliance". The officer had ZERO cause to issue the citation. He was pissed off bc he had to get out of his car to see what was happening (this was at the scene of an accident), admittedly by his own words "I was upset I had to exit my cruiser and didn't want to". It was cold and had started to snow. He showed up at an accident scene, that we had under control and would have been gone had he come by 3 min later, he was angry when he got there and became more angry when he had to get out of his car. Fortunately, no one suffered injuries from his neglient behavior. He did force my husband to drive the wrecked vechicle away causing him to narrowly avoid two concurrent accidents. The wrecked car should have NEVER been driven as it suffered broken tie rods as a result of the accident. The tires on both front sides of the vechile were bent inward at a 45 degree angle. Each person at the accident scene acknowdleges this except the officer who issued me a ticket for "Non-Compliance". He stated I was more vocal to him and didn't want to leave the accident scene. I actually had the least amount of contact with him!! He only stated this on his U-10-100 report(that I was more vocal) at least a month after the accident and when the IA officer contacted him for his statement and questioned his actions. His statement is full of COMPLETE fabrications, and the IA officer wasn't fooled by his lies. He is being reprimanded, on two sustained allegations from the IA officers report. I went to arraingnment w/o consul bc all the police offcr friends (in other jurisdictions) in the family told me, "go to the arraingment and I'm sure they'll drop this. This is a ridiculous charge and I can't believe his supervisor didn't already call you and take care of it". As this progressed I retained an attorney. My case was finally dismissed when the Legal Dept. of the police dept. contacted the prosecutor. He dropped it like a hot potato. With all that said, is it really highly unlikely I could sue for the atty fees?
Thank you for your replies.

 

[buckeye]

Can you sue? Sure. Will you? No, probably not. The chance of winning is miniscule, even if you had absolute proof you were not guilty of anything. You don't have that. I don't know what you have, but suing the police is a complex and expensive task.

My proof is that my case was dismissed and the Internal Affairs reports concludes the offending officer was wrong to issue me the citation (misconduct I referred to earlier).

Give some more facts if you want, but it is extraordinarily rare for someone to sue over a traffic ticket.

I explained circumstance briefly in above post.
I know it is UNUSUAL to sue a police offcr but I really was the victim here. Even the police department agrees with that, even his supervisors.

Also, dcatz, the officer didn't have probable cause. Wouldn't that imply somebody was behaving poorly, threateningly, viciously, etc.?? I absolutely wasn't as all other witness' observed and stated in the IA report. I was simply at the scene of my daughter's accident so I could take her home bc her car was totaled. I was actually walking back to my vechile after JUST exchanging ins info with other car involved when this pissed off officer rolled up! Please above for further info. Thanks

 

[tranquility]

It's worse than that. Because of qualified immunity, all they need arguable probable cause. For anything within the officer's knowledge at the time. That is, at least for any civil rights lawsuit.

 

[dcatz]

Now the accident comes out.
Look, I’m sorry if the incident that generated all of this was a vehicle accident. I’m even sorrier, if your daughter was injured in any way. I hope all of the consequences are down to your question about suing the officer.
You asked a question and got some answers. If they’re not answers that you expected or wanted, consult local counsel. I, for one, don’t mind being proven wrong.
But my concluding suggestions would be (1) separate probable cause from the officer’s conduct (in other words, if he “overreacted”, exceeded departmental guidelines or whatever, it doesn’t mean that the accident report and the citation won’t reflect probable cause for the citation, arrest or whatever took place). A reponse that transgresses departmental policies doesn’t mean that he didn’t have a right and duty to respond. The IA finding need only mean that he responded in the wrong way. (If that’s not clear, talk to your attorney you’ll want an attorney to properly subpoena the officer’s report.), (2) talk to an attorney, whether you decide you eventually need one or not. it’s advisable to discuss the matter with an attorney, rather than rely on an online forum, lacking all the facts and, (3) investigate claims statutes for your state. (A need to first present claims to the appropriate entities and individuals may be something you’ve overlooked.
Good luck, if you choose to litigate.

 

[buckeye]

]Now the accident comes out.[/I]

I wasn't trying to conceal the accident. It's a looong story and I'd hoped the brief explanation I gave would suffice.

But my concluding suggestions would be (1) separate probable cause from the officer’s conduct (in other words, if he “overreacted”, exceeded departmental guidelines or whatever, it doesn’t mean that the accident report and the citation won’t reflect probable cause for the citation, arrest or whatever took place).

He didn't take an accident report. He didn't even write up the u-10-100 until at least a month AFTER the ticket for Non-Compliance was issued. So I really don't think his "recollection" of the event was clear at all. That's why it was full of blantant lies bc he couldn't remember why or what happened. About the only thing correct in his u-10-100 was that he arrived at an accident scene. Everything beyond that is fiction.
A reponse that transgresses departmental policies doesn’t mean that he didn’t have a right and duty to respond. The IA finding need only mean that he responded in the wrong way.

He responded in the wrong way. I did nothing wrong. I am still stuck with atty fees bc of his wrong doing! He did have a right and duty to respond. He did not have the right to abuse his authority bc he was pissed off or for any reason. That's just not fair. I guess I'm having a difficult time getting past that.:mad:

(If that’s not clear, talk to your attorney you’ll want an attorney to properly subpoena the officer’s report.),

I already have a copy of the U-10-100 and the IA report. I don't think I'll proceed with an atty. I feel like that would defeat my purpose in trying to be reimbursed for the atty fees I've already suffered.

(3) investigate claims statutes for your state.

The ticket was issued in Feb 07 and just came to an end last week, June 07. I assume I would be within any SOL if I proceed with suit. Certainly, I'll check and thank you for the heads up on that.

(A need to first present claims to the appropriate entities and individuals may be something you’ve overlooked.
Good luck, if you choose to litigate.
I'm working on that too. Thanks for the good wishes and I'll come back and update the good, bad and ugly. I appreciate all of your replies.

I guess I just feel so abused by the system I want to fight back. I know it's futile but it's just the principle of the matter.