What are my rights if I was wrongly detained at a store?
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What are my rights if I was wrongly detained at a store?
I was cashing my check at a major retail chain. The check that I had had a tear in it. Apparently the person at the register thought it was a fake check. After waiting for 30 minutes, a police officer came behind me, handcuffed me and then detained me for 2 hours, not letting me know what was going. While on speakerphone, they called the check company and found out it was real. They let me go but still sited me for trespassing.
Asked on August 14, 2013 under Personal Injury, Nevada
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 10 years ago | Contributor
You don't really have any legal recourse. There is no liability against someone for reporting a crime if that person honestly believes one occured--even if they turn out to be mistaken. (For there to be liability, there would have to be some bad motive or intent, such as a desire to lie in order to use the law as a weapon against you.) The owner or renter of property may also call anyone a trespasser who is not welcome to be there.
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