After a detailed examination of the case provided, one can dismiss several committed crimes. Firstly, the victim lied to the police officer about her attacker, thus hid the real aggressor – her husband. Obstructing a law-enforcement officer, especially when providing identifying information is a law violation (Cuomo, 2021). Moreover, another individual in this situation is worth considering, namely the victim’s husband. It is known that he deliberately caused her bodily harm, which entails criminal liability. Physical domestic violence against a spouse or ex-spouse, resulting in physical or psychological suffering, is punishable by law.
It is also worth noting that the ambulance did not arrive on time. Such action is identified as medical negligence and can potentially lead to a civil lawsuit by the victim. A police officer violated the protocol when he left an injured victim unattended. The policeman noticed a person who partially fit the description of the victim. After he approached him, the suspect was found to have drugs. Finally, the suspect refused to comply with the police officer’s order to keep his hands in plain sight and began to draw his weapon, threatening the police officer’s health or even his life. Such an action can be identified as an attempt on the life of a police officer while performing official duties and carries criminal liability.
When talking about potential lawsuits against police representatives, it is worth taking into account the aspect of qualified immunity. Qualified immunity can protect a government person from a lawsuit alleging that the person violated the plaintiff’s rights. On the one hand, government officials who abuse their powers should be punished. On the other hand, officials against whom defamation is attempted must be protected by law. Firstly, it is necessary to establish whether the government official violated the plaintiff’s right established by law. A civil servant must prove that he acted within the limits of his authority and for the benefit of society.
Civil Law and Criminal Law are attributes of law that the public often confuses and confuses. Civil law and criminal law are completely different and have their own way of prosecuting legal authorities. Criminal law is the body of law pertaining to crimes and illegal activities that fall into the category of crimes under the laws of a particular state or country. Civil law is a legal system that deals with a common scenario and is responsible for injustice and establishes rules against it. The main difference between criminal law and civil law is that criminal law refers to punishment for crimes, while civil law focuses more on compensation for the victim.
Criminal law is a system of legal norms that determine which socially dangerous acts are crimes and which punishments are applied to the persons who committed them. The basis of criminal responsibility is the perpetration of a socially dangerous act by a person, which contains the composition of a crime (Maxfield, 2015). No one can be held criminally liable and convicted for thoughts, beliefs, desires, moods, or urges that were not expressed in a specific act of socially dangerous behavior (Hickman et al., 2019). A mandatory feature of criminal responsibility is state coercion, which finds its expression primarily in the conviction of the criminal and his actions by the court’s indictment, as well as in the imposition of additional deprivations and restrictions on the guilty.
Civil lawsuits against police officers or other public officials typically involve abuse of authority. It can also be about negligence, assault, or beating. Civil cases against police officers include false arrests, warrantless searches, or sexual harassment. Victims of false arrests typically claim that the police officer violated their Fourth Amendment rights (DeVylder et al., 2020). Police officers must provide grounds for a search or detention. If, after the arrest, it turns out that the suspect did not commit a crime, but at the time of the arrest, the police officer was sure of the truth of the information, the police officer will not be held responsible for it. Otherwise, the plaintiff must prove that the police representative did not have sufficient grounds for the arrest or search.
The use of excessive force or unjustified shootings by the police are, unfortunately, pretty common abuses of official authority. In such a case, the court will focus on whether the police officer used reasonable force. Consideration of each case is individual and depends on the facts and circumstances under which one took the actions. Therefore, if the police officer used excessive and unwarranted force, then the plaintiff may win this lawsuit. It is also worth noting that police officers must use verbal commands according to the protocol before using force. As with a police officer or station, a citizen can sue the city. The reasons for filing a lawsuit against the city include health damage due to the collapse of buildings, being hit by a state-assigned transport vehicle, insufficient state security, or medical negligence by employees of a state medical institution.
Speaking of this particular case, a lawsuit can be filed against the police officer or station for abuse of authority and leaving the victim unattended. Therefore, the untimely arrival of help, if not justified by good reasons, can be the reason for a lawsuit against the police department. Failure to arrive or the untimely arrival of an ambulance is a civil offense and grounds for a victim’s lawsuit against the city.
Summarizing the above, the case described above may potentially have criminal and civil actions for which the accused persons will be held liable. However, in the case of qualified immunity, particularly for a police officer, he can avoid liability. In addition, lawsuits can be brought against the police department or the city in the cases described above in this paper.
References
Cuomo, D. (2021). Geographies of policing: Domestic violence, mandatory arrest, and police liability. Antipode, 53(1), 138-157. Web.
DeVylder, J., Fedina, L., & Link, B. (2020). Impact of police violence on mental health: A theoretical framework. American Journal of Public Health, 110(11), 1704-1710. Web.
Hickman, C. F., Fong, E. A., Wilhite, A. W., & Lee, Y. (2019). Academic misconduct and criminal liability: Manipulating academic journal impact factors. Science and Public Policy, 46(5), 661-667. Web.
Maxfield, M. G. (2015). Basics of Research Methods for Criminal Justice and Criminology (4th ed.). Cengage Learning US. Web.