TexasCHLforum.com

mgood wrote:But I realize it is an imperfect world we live in and would not be surprised at all to be told I'm out of luck.

What the defendant could recover depends in part on Michigan law. Most states limit the ability of defendants who are found not guilty or have charges dropped to sue for damages.

A false-arrest suit requires intentional wrongdoing on the part of the LEO or some other official, such as faking an affidavit to obtain a warrant. That's why these suits are rarely won.

The usual route in official wrongdoing is a federal civil right suit, but those also are rarely won except in cases of gross abuse.

- Jim

IMHO, he might win a suit against the city, but he doesn't have much damages. He wasn't arrested. He might recover his legal fees.

He posted on the opencarry.org site that he's looking for an attorney who won't require him to pay up-front.

The problem with this sort of case is that it doesn't establish a precedent, so the police can keep arresting people for open carry, or whatever they are doing.

The situation is even worse in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The police there keep arresting people for open carry even though they have been told not to by the attorney general and a judge.

- Jim

The charges were dropped.

Probably the prosecutor knew he would lose, when he read the statute. Prosecutors don't like to lose.

- Jim

dicion wrote:I agree, but this guy was stating it in the audio as if he was sure it was a fact, when it was not. That's different from not knowing, and having to look things up.

As the saying goes, "The problem isn't what he doesn't know, it's what he knows that ain't so."

Even prosecutors and judges can make mistakes. That's why verdicts are overturned on appeal -- which is very expensive for the defendant.

- Jim

Please excuse me for being a noodge, but this case illustrates something that I say from time to time: Police officers arrest you for what they think is an offense, not what the law says is an offense.

It is appalling how uninformed the prosecutor and judge were. I don't expect them to know the entire statutes by heart, but I would think the prosecutor would look up the law that he is prosecuting under.

I'd wager that most participants in this forum know the CHL and weapons laws better than the typical LEO.

- Jim