If someone is arrested wrongly, what can you hope to get from your lawsuit?
You are busy starting your day as per the schedule and suddenly you see yourself surrounded by a group of police officers the police arrest you, put handcuffs on explain your rights, and take you to jail. In such a situation, you don’t know what to do when you know that you have done nothing wrong in your life, you can’t think of anything worse than this. This is the problem; this is completely called wrongful arrest. For this, you may have filed a court case against the wrongful arrest, and now hoping for monetary compensation.
The wrongful arrest settlement amount varies from case to case, depending on the imprisonment time, or any injury during the arrest. Further wrongful imprisonment can even lead to loss of wages or missed opportunities, while determining the settlement amount, the court considers all the situations you have faced during the wrongful imprisonment.
To determine what will be the actual settlement you must take professional assistance from a wrongful arrest lawyer. Further, being a pre-settlement funding company, we have also seen cases related to wrongful arrest. Let us now determine what you can expect if you file a wrongful arrest lawsuit. But before that let’s understand wrongful arrest. We will try to explain each and everything to you.
What Kind Of Arrest Is Considered To Be A Wrongful Arrest?
Wrongful arrest in simple terms, is an arrest made by the police where an innocent person faces arrest because of misunderstanding or because of some police personal vendetta. An arrest that has been made without the law, without examination, only on doubt, where a wrong innocent person gets arrested is wrongful.
Some of the common reasons for wrongful arrest are as below:
- Fake Identity
- Insufficient probable cause
- Wrong Allegation
- Police Misbehavior
In many instances, we have found that people were arrested because they somewhat matched with identity of the suspect’s description, which we come to know later that he is not the actual person or the suspect who is arrested. There is no accurate match from the actual suspect, and we also come to know that the proof is not sufficient against the arrested person and he was arrested because of some personal issue with that particular person.
What Is The Average Settlement Amount For Wrongful Arrest Lawsuit?
Well, there is no exact amount that we can say as of now, before understanding the case. But on average we have seen that most of the wrongful arrest lawsuit settles between $1000-$1500 per hour of stay inside the custody. Generally, the amount definitely varies between cases, if there is any high profile involved the case of wrongful arrest can even reach a settlement value of $100,000.
The court will determine the amount based on the trauma, reputational damage, injury involved, and the time you have stayed in custody where you were wrongfully arrested.
Different Range Of Wrongful Settlement Amount
As we have seen with multiple cases of wrongful imprisonment, the amount goes from a few thousand dollars to multi-million dollars, and for a lower-range settlement it goes from $25,000 to $50,000, whereas for the mid-range settlement, it goes from $100,000 to $500,000. If we see in most of these cases, we have found a huge amount of financial loss and psychological trauma.
Till now we have seen and got to know about some serious situations where the person gets a settlement amount of up to $500,000 depending on the situation and impact of the case. Now let us discuss one more situation which became a horrible and outrageous case, their settlement can reach up to millions. We are talking about the situation of long imprisonment, clearing, and tampering with evidence which leads to the major consequences in the victim’s life.
Factors That Can Affect The Wrongful Arrest Lawsuit Settlement Amount
Now let’s dive into the matter: Which factor determines the Value of a Wrongful Arrest Lawsuit?
The settlement amount generally depends on the scenario you have faced while you were wrongfully arrested. Many factors are included, and each has a different impact on the settlement amount, or we can say the final verdict amount.
Period Of Stay In Custody.
The most important thing is that if someone gets arrested by police without any genuine reason or proof then government should take appropriate action against the police. Now the time you have spent in custody can play a major role in these cases if it is only for a few hours that is a different scenario, but if the same person is held for days weeks, or months in custody without committing any crime and just based on some assumption is completely a different scenario. There are many cases handled by our team where allegations are found inappropriate and false, which are later dropped, and no doubt those cases are more valuable.
Utilization Of Power And Force
During your arrest, if you have undergone any kind of torture and there are a large number of forces used during your arrest, this increases the potential of your case and helps you to get more value for your claim. You might get injured during your arrest or a part of your body breaks, which we have seen in a few of the cases. There was one case we have represented where we saw a person’s hand get broken during a wrongful arrest and later it ended up adding more value to the claim.
Psychological Anxiety and Pain
We cannot underestimate the pain, trauma, and anxiety of a person who was arrested wrongfully just based on an assumption. Most of our clients have faced this and they have gone under depression, or they have experienced PTSD. Courts always keep these under consideration.
Financial Loss
Suppose you are the only person who earns in your family, and you lost your job or business because of this wrongful arrest this brings a valid and impactful point in your Wrongful Arrest Lawsuit. We have seen many instances where people lost their contracts or people had to shut down their businesses because of wrongful arrest.
Reputational damage
in today’s digital world, it is nearly impossible to hide any news from the world, and if you are a famous personality your arrest news can spread like a fire in the jungle, which ends the person’s career and image completely in the public within a fraction of a second. In many instances where we worked with teachers doctors engineers and business leaders whose career got ended because of wrongful arrests.
Legal fees
Since you are arrested for a crime that was not committed by you, and to defend yourself from such cases you have to pay the legal team that not only helps you to come out of this scenario but also helps to get your compensation for all mental, physical, and social damage. These expenses sometimes go beyond the estimate provided in the beginning, and these expenses are factored into the total value of the lawsuit of Wrongful Arrest.
Follow The Below Steps If You Have Been Arrested Wrongfully.
If you think you are stuck in this situation and you are wrongfully arrested, please follow certain steps keeping your rights and actions in mind which gives strength to your lawsuit: –
- Maintain calm and hold back: – you know already that you are innocent, not a criminal, and even after that if you’re being arrested please don’t lose your calm or else many other charges get implemented on you which leads your lawsuit to the weaker side.
- Maintain silence and focus on your rights: – Do not try to give any kind of proof for your innocence nor try to engage yourself in any sort of discussion with any police officer. Just try to convince or request them to let you speak with your legal advisor which is your right.
- Document every detail: – Try to recall every detail as in date, day, time, place, etc, and most importantly the persons who were available at that place, also names of the officers who arrested you, and note down, provide it to your legal advisor so that they can be presented as a witness in your lawsuit.
- Request for a medical assistant if required: – During your arrest, if you get injured, immediately ask for a medical assistant and keep every record related to that, this can strengthen your lawsuit.
- Consult an attorney who is experienced: – Your lawsuit will be stronger and in favor if you get an experienced and better attorney sooner. A better attorney will dive into the depth of the case and help you win your lawsuit in a shorter period.
Challenges You Can Face In Wrongful Arrest Lawsuit
We all know that if you are arrested for the wrong claim and if you are innocent, you will receive a settlement amount, but these settlement amounts come with a few challenges. When the trials start 2 major complications come in the way: –
Burden of Proof
If you have been arrested wrongfully then it is obvious you have to take care of all evidence in favor of you and provide them as earliest possible to your legal advisor, you also have to prove your innocence and explain that the arrest was unlawful because of which you have suffered damages in every aspect. it’s very easy to say but to prove yourself not guilty with evidence is very difficult, specifically when the officers claim that they have evidence against you.
Suitable Immunity
The principle of law that protects police officers as well as government officials from civil liability, so long as they do not disobey constitutional authority, is a case where a person has been wrongfully arrested by an officer. but it is a difficult challenge to overcome.
How To Strengthen Your Wrongful Imprisonment Lawsuit?
After all these challenges, there is a way to strengthen your wrongful arrest lawsuit.
- Collect enough evidence: Try to recall the place from where you were arrested and the surroundings, think of any cameras that have captured your arrest and try to collect those videos and photos as a piece of evidence that strengthens your Lawsuit.
- Find witness: In wrongful arrest, it is more important to have a witness who states in your favor also available at the same place during your arrest. That person’s statement is considered more important.
- Maintain all records: Maintain all your expenses during your arrest including legal fees, lost wages, and medical bills.
- Keep in touch with an experienced attorney: Please look for an experienced attorney who specializes in civil rights and wrongful arrest cases, because only that attorney can help you come out of the case and increase your chances for your win in Lawsuit.
- Get Pre-settlement Funding: In many cases, we have seen the plaintiff back out from going ahead with legal proceedings due to the absence of the case, then you can get pre-settlement funding. These cash advances can help you secure your finances while you have an ongoing case. We can help you with a wrongful arrest lawsuit loan, which can help you continue with your case without worrying about the cash during an ongoing lawsuit.
FAQs Of Wrongful Arrest Lawsuit
Can I sue for wrongful arrest if the charges were dropped?
Yes, you can still file for a wrongful arrest lawsuit for yourself, provided you allege that the prior arrest was illegal, regardless of the outcome of any criminal proceedings.
How long do I have to file a wrongful arrest lawsuit?
In all states, this usually happens between one and three years from the date when a wrongful arrest was made, but it is more important to file as soon as possible. it is recommended to consult an experienced attorney and make sure you do not miss any important deadlines.
What’s The Difference Between Wrongful Arrest And False Imprisonment?
False imprisonment refers to unlawful detention by law enforcement. False imprisonment is a crime committed by a person who unlawfully restricts another person’s freedom of movement.
Concluding Remarks
As we read above, how much does wrongful arrest cost? There is no one-size-fits-all. What the value of a wrongful arrest will be to a life depends on the length of the detention period. How much will you get, what can be the price?
However, in some high-profile cases, it has been seen that the amount has reached the million-dollar category. Above you have been told how much the settlement for wrongful arrest is in hundreds or thousands of dollars.
Always remember that the main aim of these lawsuits isn’t just only money and settlement amount but also to make sure that this will not happen again in the future to anyone anywhere.
Also, if they have been the victims of wrongful arrest, then there is absolutely no need to face this problem alone, please contact an experienced attorney who fights for your compensation and rights. After all, your rights, reputation, and freedom are priceless.