by HWC Attorney Craig Shirley
Unfortunately, there are times when people are falsely arrested, whether intentionally or simply by a mistake in identity. When that does happen, there is a potential for a personal injury claim for false arrest and false imprisonment to be made arising out of that false arrest. In Alabama, false arrest and false imprisonment, while seemingly very similar, are slightly distinguishable. For instance, false imprisonment in Alabama is statutorily defined, as “the unlawful detention of the person of another for any length of time…” Ala. Code § 6-5-170. Conversely, Alabama courts have long held that to constitute an arrest, as person must be taken into custody under real or assumed authority. Davis & Allcott Co. vs. Boozer, 110 So. 28, 29 (Ala. 1926). Accordingly, if a person has been subject to a false arrest, that false arrest will also support a claim for false imprisonment. In that instance, the first question that must be answered is whether the arrest that was made was in fact “false,” and if the answer is no, i.e. the arrest was made pursuant to a valid warrant, then there can be no subsequent action for a false arrest or false imprisonment. Assuming that the arrest was in fact “false,” that leads to a more difficult question to answer: “is the police officer ultimately immune from liability for the false arrest?”
In Alabama, law enforcement officers are granted State-agent immunity under Alabama Code section 6-5-338(a). This statute states that law enforcement officers “shall have immunity from tort liability arising out of his or her conduct in performance of any discretionary function…” Ala. Code § 6-5-338(a). After the legislature enacted the State-agent immunity statute, there were circumstances arising that raised the question of what qualified as a “discretionary function.” The Supreme Court of Alabama addressed that particular issue in Ex parte Cranman when it set out the restatement of the State-agent immunity and provided the test in determining whether a law enforcement officer would be entitled to State-agent immunity under section 6-5-338(a). The Cranman Court Stated: