Arrested on suspicion?

Question

A friend of mine was arrested on domestic spousal abuse. He says his now ex-wife is crazy, made it up, and did it to try to get full custody of their baby so that she could move out of state. He looked me straight in the eye and said he never hit her. My question is: Would the police really arrest someone and put them in jail for a brief period due to suspicion of abuse? Wouldn't there have to be some kind of proof?

We live in Michigan

Answer 1

Hello, I read some of the answers to your question and perhaps I can explain this so everyone can understand. An officer has no choice but to arrest in an domestic violence case, if there is evidence of an assault, one or both are going. A court order states " law-enforcement shall arrest" not may arrest! Remember, evidence is the key word here. If the officer has no evidence then the magistrate will not find probable cause for the arrest. Don't let that sound like officers can make false arrest because he/she will swear to his/her statement before the judge. If the officer, after completing his/her investigation, found no evidence of an assault both subjects would be referred to the magistrate. Officers do not arrest without evidence/or a witness to the allegation. If in fact your friend was arrested, then brought before a magistrate, was he or was he not, charged or released ? If he was charged, then the judge found P.C. for the arrest. This is not a conviction, only a charge. A district court judge will decide if he is convicted.

Answer 2

In most states, when it comes to domestic abuse - police officers do not have any discretion in terms of removing a potential abuser from the home. If someone calls and says their spouse hit them, then an investigating officer must give the benefit of the doubt to the complainant.

However, that does not been that your friend will be automatically convicted, a trial/case will still be carried out. The states attorney may even drop the case if they feel the charges are unwarranted or there is insufficient evidence to support the charge.

However, at the time of a complaint, the responding officer cannot determine whether abuse, in fact, did or did not take place. This harsh standard was developed because of past police misjudgements (Jeffery Dammer, incident comes to mind).

Answer 3

It is something called a sworn statement. In the state of Florida we have to make a physical arrest if probable cause exists that an assault/battery/sexual assault/stalking/ harassment did occur and the suspect is still on scene where there is a domestic issue. I am not familiar with Michigan law, however, most laws stay similar from state to state. If the female did a sworn statement and is later found to have lied she should be charged with perjury (lying) and making a false police report. If the male was charged it does not mean he was convicted and he will have to see a judge. However, officers tend to put people in handcuffs when there are enough facts to show that a crime was committed--the whole violations of civil rights and possible civil lawsuits are an excellent deterrence.

Answer 4

Yes. The police only need to have a reasonable belief that the person charged, engaged in the reported behavior.

Domestic violence is even more difficult to defend against because if the person has a bruise, scratch, etc., she only need say who did it--regardless of the circumstances, the police are obligated by State and Federal law to at least arrest and charge the person.

In this case, if her charges are proven to be false, she can kiss full custody goodbye. Maybe.

Answer 5

In these cases, they will often hold the person due to suspicion and allow the courts to make a final determination.

My ex really did harm me and I called the police. He was held for 2 days. I was given a temporary restraining order, no questions asked. However, the police investigated and decided not to charge my ex. I continued to seek a restraining order and he pulled the "she's nuts and I don't want anything to do with her" line. The judge decided not to issue the order, but put it in the case that if ever he contacts me in any fashion that he will give me the restraining order.
There were no kids involved.

What your friend needs is proof that he did nothing wrong.

Answer 6

You would think that the police would need some type of physical proof of abuse to arrest a person but the police can be very unpredictable in domestic situations. I've heard all kinds of tales, from both men and women. Maybe the police arrested him to get him away from his ex-wife temporarily and defuse the explosive situation.

If he's really your friend then I would say trust your instincts and believe him. Or do you have that little doubt in your mind and doubt him?

Answer 7

Yeah they do that in West Virginia too. They don't need video footage or anything if there's a witness and evidence of abuse. If they have that, than that's all they need. Besides some people are really good liars so maybe he isn't telling the truth. Either way the police can't just take his word for it. You have to look at the facts.

Answer 8

When the police are called out for a domestic violence call, someone is getting arrested whether they did anything or not, did she file charges?? The police will take her side and make a report if she had any marks on her, it's up to him to prove he didn't ... he needs to call a lawyer and get this looked at, crazy or not she knows what's she's doing.

Answer 9

A lot of states have laws that require the police to arrest the abuser if there are physical signs of abuse, and that allow them to make an arrest even if there are no physical signs.

You should be able to find more information if you google the name of your state plus "domestic violence" and "mandatory arrest."

Answer 10

Unfortunately, no. This is all very common now, and it is problematical because there are a lot of cases where it is necessary, no doubt, but any woman in the United States can claim abuse, real or not, and the husband is going to jail, period. Hopefully they will have an alibi if they are innocent, otherwise, they need a good lawyer, and most people just can't afford the representation they need to go against the DA's who only care about conviction rates.