If you were accused of a crime and found not guilty can you recover attorney fees from your accuser?

Answer 1

Answer 1:

Sometimes. It depends on the court you were accused in, the nature of the accuser, the crime(s) accused of, the jurisdiction, etc.

Answer 2:

In criminal matters, it is not actually the "victim" that "presses charges", it is the District Attorney. True, the "victim" is asked if they want to press charges, but this is still the District Attorney's exclusive decision. A person may want charges pressed, but the DA declines. Or the person may not want charges pressed, but the DA does anyway.

But while in all cases it is actually the District Attorney pressing the charges, you cannot recover the costs of your defense from that DA. The District Attorney is an agent of the government, enjoys what is called "sovereign immunity" and is presumed to have acted in good faith - even when blatantly they were not.

In some very rare cases, you might be able to prove the DA did not act in good faith, but this would be more likely to result in punishment to the DA, not reimbursement to you.

Now. You do have the ability to sue the original accuser, the supposed "victim". If you feel the person lied to the police, perjured themselves, or otherwise acted in a way that caused you the material harm of having to pay for an attorney, you can sue them.

You may or may not win. If you only got found not guilty due to a technicality, and actually did do it, you'd do best to leave well enough alone. And even if you are truly innocent, that's not the same as being able to convince a jury that the alleged "victim" is a bad enough person to owe you money.

For instance, was it a woman raped, who wrongly accused you? If she did not know you, and only ever said "I couldn't quite see him, it was too dark, yes, that might be him." in response to the police showing her you in a line up, then she is guilty of little more than being confused. I doubt you'd win against her.

On the other hand, if she accused you of rape, and actually knew you, and had clearly said that it was definitely you, but then it turned out that it could not have been you, and she lied to try and blackmail you...well then, you'd probably win and win big on that one.

Bear in mind, though, that most civil suits have to be paid for up front. Meaning more attorney fees for you until you win. Which you might or might not. Everyone always thinks that an attorney will just sue for a percentage of the win, but this is not the case. They only do that if the person being sued is very rich - so there's something to actually win - and if they think they have a reasonable chance of winning or settling.

If your accuser is some regular joe or jane, with no assets and only a modest income, if any, then you will not find an attorney to take that one on, unless you pay them a fee up front. Your average suit will start at $1,500 - if not $5,000. And will only go up.

It may then be best to do this: Consult with an attorney. Usually they will do this for free. If they agree to take the case for a percent, then great! That means they think they'll win, and get money for you. But if they say, "I'll take it, but I'll need X amount up front.", then thank him for his time and walk away.

For he'll have just told you in lawyerese, "I don't think I'll win, or if I do there won't be any money to collect."