Opinion ID: 786706
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: The Adverse Effect of the Erroneous Instructions

Text: 112 By allowing both the probable cause element and the initiation element to hinge solely on whether the jury concluded that Carriere made false statements in his 1994 interview, the trial below created a troubling precedent. Persons with knowledge of criminal activity — even persons who are themselves charged with crimes — are not required to have probable cause to believe another person has committed a crime before reporting their knowledge to the police. Such a rule would pose an intolerable impediment to the free flow of information to the police. 113 Similarly, if, after such a report is made, the accused is later charged in a criminal case that terminates in his favor, the law places important limits on the accused's right to seek damages from the complainant. Significantly, it is not enough for the accused, in a subsequent civil trial, to prevail simply by proving that the complainant told lies to the police. Indeed, if that were enough, an acquitted defendant could haul into court anyone who provided incriminating information to the government during the investigation. If the acquitted defendant then persuades a jury by a mere preponderance of the evidence that the complainant told malicious lies when providing the incriminating information, the complainant would be required to pay damages. In this case, those damages included $1,000,000 in punitive damages. While those potential consequences might deter persons from providing false information to the government, we have little doubt that they would deter the provision of truthful information as well. Indeed, [s]uch a rule would not only inhibit the furnishing of testimony by key witnesses, it would tend to make all such witnesses `interested' in the outcome of the prosecution, since only a conviction of the accused would immunize them from civil suit. Whittaker v. Duke, 473 F.Supp. 908, 912 (S.D.N.Y.1979) (Sand, J.). 114 Accordingly, the law prohibits such claims by requiring a malicious prosecution plaintiff to do more than simply prevail in a credibility contest with his accuser. If the criminal prosecution was otherwise supported by probable cause, for example, the malicious prosecution claim is unavailable, even if the accuser lied. Similarly, if the criminal proceeding was initiated by someone else, the claim is unavailable, again, even if the accuser lied. These limitations on the cause of action were not designed to protect false accusers, but rather to ensure that truthful ones are not discouraged from coming forward. By erroneously permitting a finding that Carriere lied to the government to satisfy both the probable cause and the initiation elements of Rothstein's claim, the district court stripped away these limitations. However undeserving Carriere himself may be, the public policy of fostering the flow of information to law enforcement authorities requires that they not be stripped away in future cases.