Georgia Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog

In the past few months, we have been fortunate to convince district attorneys in two different Georgia counties to dismiss serious felony charges against our clients that had arisen out of business disputes. In one case, it was a former employer charging his employee with computer trespass and theft charges to avoid paying severance pursuant to a valid employment contract. In another case, it was a business partner who charged his former partners with robbery and kidnapping to cover up his own theft of company funds. Both clients are now free, but only after an incredible amount of work by their lawyer.

These cases are an example of a trend I've seen developing in the past few years - the pursuit of criminal charges in civil disputes. Some people (and even some lawyers) think the best way to win a business dispute is to have the other person arrested. And sometimes they're right. The pursuit of a criminal arrest warrant can be a devastating and highly effective weapon, if it is used correctly. But it can also be greatly abused, with drastic consequences for the innocent person involved.

Getting someone arrested is, unfortunately, not as hard as you may think. There are basically two ways to do it. First, call the police (Atlanta Police Department, Cobb County Police, Gwinnett County Police, etc.). If the responding officer thinks there is probable cause to arrest someone, he/she can do it. The other alternative is to visit your local magistrate court (Fulton County,Cobb County, Gwinnett County). If you can convince a magistrate judge that there is probable cause that a crime has been committed he/she can issue a warrant on the spot. If not, then the magistrate may set the case down for a pre-warrant hearing. At that hearing, both parties can present their witnesses and evidence and the magistrate judge will determine whether to issue a warrant.

Of course, if you do this, be careful and tell the truth. I have seen magistrate judges issues warrants for the people who asked for the hearing in the first place. The judge decided that the person made a false report of a crime and they were arrested on the spot.

Fortunately for both our clients, all charges were dismissed before any trial or conviction. But that doesn't mean they didn't suffer. In the kidnapping case, our client was held in jail for days before we could secure his release (kidnapping is a serious violent felony charge and bond can only be set by a superior court judge). In the computer trespass case, the client had to suffer the indignity of a public arrest and indictment (and a record that will take many months if not years to clean up). And, of course, both clients had to pay some hefty legal fees for all the work we had to do to vindicate them.

There is a remedy for our clients, and others who are falsely charged with a crime as a result of a business dispute. There are Georgia laws that prohibit malicious prosecution and defamation and allow people to pursue civil lawsuits and recover money judgments. But that involves more litigation, more lawyers and, of course, more money.

Hopefully, police officers and magistrate judges will be especially diligent in issuing warrants when there is evidence that a business dispute is behind the allegations of misconduct. It is also a good practice for magistrates to hold more pre-warrant issuance hearings to hear from both parties before someone is arrested. Many magistrates already do this, and we have been successful in representing our clients at these hearings and having the charges dismissed before anyone is ever arrested.

But people will still get arrested for crimes they didn't commit. As long as that happens, we will have plenty of work to do. If a deputy sheriff ever knocks on your door and serves you with notice to appear at a warrant hearing, don't panic. Just give us a call. We've been down that road before.