Q: What consequences can a person face if they intentionally lie to the police to have someone arrested?
As a result, the person lied on was booked on a 20,000 dollar bond for aggravated assault and vandalism under 1000, but has never been arrested before.
A:
A simple answer would be a person could be subjected to criminal prosecution and possible civil litigation
for obstructing justice leading to a false arrest. However in the real word it won't play out like that.
The individual who was arrested will have to go through the criminal process of having a preliminary hearing
to determine if there is probable cause to sustain the charges. Even if the judge finds no probable cause that does not mean the complainant has falsely put forth information leading to the arrest. Despite a finding of no probable cause the case can still be submitted to the grand jury for indictment and prosecution in circuit court. In an assault case
where its one parties word against the other it is extremely difficult to prove one is intentionally lying.
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