Wrongful Arrest.
An arrest without probable cause is an unreasonable seizure the Fourth Amendment forbids.
I am Orlando Rodriguez, a trial lawyer. The office is in Houston, and I handle Texas arrests only. I take very few wrongful arrest cases. A dropped or dismissed charge, by itself, is not a case: the question a court asks is whether the officer had probable cause at the moment of the arrest, and the law does not set that bar high. The cases I take are the ones with days in jail and no charge ever filed, an injury, or a report an officer made up.
I review these matters in writing first, through the questionnaire at the bottom of this page, not by phone. Reading what happened is the fairest way to tell you quickly whether this is a case I can take, and if it is, you will hear from me. Have the dismissal paperwork, the booking or jail record, the date and the agency, and any video ready. No fees unless we win.
An arrest is a seizure of your body by the state. When it happens without probable cause, the Constitution has been violated, and that violation can be a claim.
The Fourth Amendment allows an arrest only on probable cause, meaning facts that would lead a reasonable officer to believe a crime was committed. An arrest built on less, on a hunch, a grudge, mistaken identity, or a fabricated account, is a wrongful arrest. Where an officer pushes a baseless case forward into charges, the related claim of malicious prosecution can come into play as well.
These cases turn on what the officer actually knew at the moment of the arrest. Reports, dispatch records, video, and witness accounts are used to reconstruct that, and to test the stated justification against the facts on the ground. As with any claim against an official, qualified immunity is in the way, and overcoming it takes the same precise, precedent-driven work.
On the state's power to seize:
Is this a case I can take?
Almost every day someone tells me about a stop that felt wrong, and I hear you. Being treated badly by an officer is real, and it stays with you. But the cases I can actually take into federal court are a narrower thing than most people expect. Reading the two lists below will tell you, in about a minute, whether yours is one I can help with. It saves you a phone call, and it saves the people with the strongest cases the time I owe them.
- ✓An officer used force and you were hurt: hit, thrown down, tased, shot, or bitten by a police dog.
- ✓You needed medical care afterward, such as stitches, an ER visit, surgery, a broken bone, or a lasting injury.
- ✓Someone was seriously hurt or died in a jail or in custody, or was denied clear medical care there.
- ✓You were held for days without a charge ever being filed, or arrested on a report an officer made up.
- ✓Police entered or searched your home without a warrant and without your permission.
- ·A traffic stop or a ticket where no one was physically hurt.
- ·Being pulled over, questioned, or searched during a stop, when it ended without force and without injury.
- ·An officer was rude, unprofessional, or dishonest, but caused no physical harm.
- ·Charges that were dropped or dismissed, by themselves, when you were out within a day and no one was hurt.
- ·A stop you believe was unfair or about your race, but that ended without force, injury, or an unlawful arrest.
- This is the honest truth, not a brush-off. Qualified immunity stops most stop-only claims before a jury ever hears them, and I would rather tell you that now than leave you waiting on a call.
If yours is on the left.
I review civil rights matters in writing, and I take very few. The questionnaire asks the right questions, one at a time; I read every answer myself, and if yours is a case I can take, you will hear from me. I am licensed in Texas and handle Texas cases. No fees unless we win.
Tell Me About Your CaseWritten first, on purpose. It lets me see what happened before we talk, and it is the fairest way to tell you quickly whether this is a case I can take.