A buddy of mine flew to Vegas over the weekend. When he got off the plane he was immediately arrested for Fourth(?) Degree Sexual Assault. The story, as I understand it, is that as he was boarding the plane there was a woman putting her carry on in the overhead storage bin. He excused himself and slid past her. Being a bigger guy he brushed up against her as he did this. She told a flight attendant* and there were sheriffs waiting for him at the gate. At some point the flight attendant told the sheriffs that he pinched her butt as well (again, as I understand it, that didn’t happen, he says he had zero physical or verbal contact with her the entire time). He posted bail, hired a lawyer and when he went before a judge the charges were dropped.
My question is, does he have any recourse? Could he sue her for the cost of his lawyer (and win)? What about the extra expense incurred in having to stay in Vegas two extra days to stand before the judge (hotel costs, transportation, food, lost income etc)?
For the purposes of this, let’s assume everything he said is 100% true. He merely brushed up against her as he walked past her and that he never had any contact with the other person.
Also, none of this is a ‘legal question’ as he’s not someone I see all that often. I’m not giving him any advice, I’m just curious.
I can’t answer your question, but there is a tort called “abuse of process”. Assuming you can trust your friend to tell you the whole story, this sounds like a perfect example of such abuse.
Since this is an intentional tort, he would be able to sue for punitive damages in addition to compensation. I don’t know what sorts would be covered under the rubric of compensation, but whatever isn’t might be made up for by any award of punitive damages he might get.
The problem is trying to prove such a case. I suspect that he will not be able to get anyone to take it on a contingent fee basis. Although if the person being sued has deep pockets you might be able to persuade one to do it. Punitive damages are based, at least in part, on the ability of the defendant to pay.
There’s also the tort of malicious prosecution - that might also be a possibility. This might actually be more applicable now that I think of it. I don’t think simply filing a complaint will amount to abuse of process. But take a look at the wiki entries and see what you think.
Somewhere along the lines I heard it mentioned that someone thought the flight attendant, who claimed to have been pinched, was an “all men are pigs” type person and that they felt she just said that to get him in more trouble (or at least help the original charge stick).
You’d have to prove INTENT to collect any damages. If someone acts in good faith, you’re screwed. But it’s not so unusual. What about all the people that are arrested and put in jail awaiting trial. One person is rich he goes free, the other can’t make bail and has to spend months in jail with criminals. Is that fair? If you hire an lawyer and are found “not guilty” you don’t get your money back.
So if this woman acted in good faith, there’s little hope of getting any money back. If you want to sue her you’d have to prove intent.
What I would do is have the lawyer right a threatening letter saying he will sue for court costs and times. It probably won’t work, but many people have coughed up money on the basis of a letter. At best, at least she might think twice before doing this again.
Sort of an aside, but if the “crime” occurred on the ground prior to take off wouldn’t the police in that state have jurisdiction as opposed to Nevada?