What this criminal lawyer has seen over the past 20 years is that false reports of domestic violence have mushroomed. Though there is a serious problem throughout the U.S. with domestic violence, laws have become so severe that the current status of the law approaches that of "presumed guilty."
1
How can anyone be "presumed guilty" in American Courts?
The authorities do not call it that, of course. But here is what happens in some jurisdictions when a 911 call is made reporting domestic violence. The police arrive and will only talk to the person who made the complaint. Even if the investigation shows that the complaint was clearly false, some police departments have a policy that they must make an arrest on every D.V. house call. The intent is to prevent further and worse violence after they leave. The reality is that even where they can clearly see that the D.V. report was a lie, they still have to arrest him. ie, "presumed guilty". Then the Court will automatically issue a "stay away" order, barring the arrestee from going near the complaining party, but also barring him from his home, if she lives with him. Then when the complainant tells police and prosecutors that she or he fabricated the alleged assault, police and prosecutors decide that the renunciation of the complaint is the lie, not the original report. Presumed guilty.
2
Police wouldn't actually arrest someone they KNOW is innocent, would they?
I can only tell you that in San Francisco, it is police department policy that an arrest has to be made every time they respond to a domestic violence call. Though police spokesmen were reluctant to go on the record when I canvassed San Francisco Bay Area Police Agencies, I believe this policy I believe this policy is widespread. I personally had a case where a woman called 911 to report that her husband hit her in the face with a length of steel pipe, knocking her to the floor. The police truthfully noted in their report that she had no mark whatever on her face, but arrested him and put him in jail anyway.
3
But after the couple cool down, they will drop the false charges, won't they?
Nope. Because it is well known that battered women will defend their abusers, prosecutors have a wide-spread policy of not dropping D.V. charges no matter what the "victim" says. If she or he confesses that the D.V. report was a lie born of anger and rage, they assume otherwise and continue prosecuting. The "victim" does not have the right to drop charges. In fact, once the 911 call is made, the couple has lost control over their relationship for awhile. It's in the hands of the police, prosecutors and judges.
4
If someone is proved to have made a false D.V. charge, they'll be prosecuted for THAT, won't they?
Again, no. Here is why. Prosecutors will tell you that if they ever prosecuted a woman for making a false report of D.V. and having someone falsely arrested, it would discourage other battered women from ever calling 911. In 32 years of criminal defense law practice, I have neither seen nor heard of even one person prosecuted for making a false D.V. complaint. People who like to use false D.V. complaints as "payback" for some grievance, grudge or emotional hurt, have total functional immunity for doing so. The domestic violence justice system in my opinion is seriously distorted from normal justice enforcement. We really can protect women from real violence without encouraging all this gamesmanship.
5
Don't police and prosecutors understand that people will say things they regret during an argument with a lover?
Apparently not. But that is not the only reason for the growth of false D.V. complaints. There is also profit. If the accused is wealthy, good money can be made on the civil lawsuit after he or she is convicted. Then there is vengeance, as when a lover is caught cheating on the other. Then there is the "Hell hath no fury..." situation, and let's not forget that some people are just insane and/or vindictive.
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