Just suggesting someone has raped another person is enough to ruin a reputation, which is why it is especially important for police and prosecutors to only arrest someone on suspicion of rape once they have sufficient, verifiable evidence. If they act prematurely, they may cause irreparable damage to an individual’s life. This is why you need to contact the Criminal Defense Attorney Shawn Haff if you are being investigated for any type of Criminal Sexual Conduct charge. Do not let false allegations ruin your life!
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Examples Of False Allegations
A Lexington woman doesn’t seem to have cared. The 38-year-old actively lied to police about being raped not once, but twice. One man, however, was not so lucky. In 2003, he was convicted of raping the woman and served nearly 10 years in prison before his case was dismissed following evidence of her most recent false allegations.
The woman will spend between five to 14 years in prison for both filing a false felony report and tampering with evidence.
The woman contacted police a few days after her alleged rape, but when she was brought to the hospital, the numerous bruises on her face washed off. The woman even carved the word “slut” into her arm.
There aren’t many people who go around lying about being raped, but her story serves another purpose. It shows just how dangerous an accusation can be. Without proper investigation and a good criminal defense law firm on your side like Criminal Defense Attorney Shawn Haff, innocent men and women can be sent to jail for crimes they never committed. Do not let False Allegations of Criminal Sexual Conduct ruin your life!
"Great Lawyers who get good results. Do not hire another lawyer without calling this law firm first. Trust me, I've dealt with several other lawyers and they charged me 10k and got me nothing. When I talked to Shawn he put me at ease and kept me informed every step of the way. He guided me through the process every single step. I will use him and this office again if I am ever facing another criminal charge." Jessie W read more testimonials
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False Domestic Violence Allegations
The page above deals largely with false accusations of criminal sexual conduct. The same dynamic drives a great many domestic violence cases, and the mechanics are worth setting out on their own.
Domestic violence is uniquely easy to allege. No injury has to be proved. There are usually no witnesses. Michigan's mandatory arrest policy means that once an officer has probable cause — which one person's account can supply — somebody is being arrested that night. And a personal protection order can be entered on a sworn petition alone, without you ever being in the room.
Where These Allegations Come From
Most people who make a false report are not villains in a movie. They are in the middle of something, and an accusation solves a problem for them:
- Custody and divorce. The most common by a wide margin. A DV allegation moves the other parent out of the house and puts domestic violence in front of the family court as a best-interest factor under MCL 722.23(k). Watch the calendar — an allegation filed days after a custody motion is a fact worth putting in front of the judge.
- Housing and property. An order excluding you from a shared home resolves a dispute about who stays, immediately and without a landlord-tenant case.
- Getting ahead of it. In a mutual altercation, the first person to call 911 controls the narrative — and the second one is usually the one arrested.
- Immigration leverage. Certain immigration protections turn on being a victim of domestic violence, which occasionally creates an incentive that has nothing to do with what happened.
- Exaggeration rather than invention. Far more common than outright fabrication: something real but minor gets retold in progressively worse terms as it passes from a 911 call to a police report to a prosecutor's file.
How I Take Them Apart
There is rarely one dramatic moment. It is built:
- Timing. I pull the family court docket. When the accusation lands relative to a divorce filing, a custody motion, or a move-out is very often the whole case.
- The complete message history. Not the three screenshots attached to a petition — the full thread, in order, with what was said before and after. Affectionate messages sent hours after an alleged assault are difficult to explain away.
- The 911 recording and body camera footage. Recorded before anyone had time to think, and routinely inconsistent with the written report.
- Physical evidence, or its absence. An account of a violent struggle in a room where nothing is disturbed is an account with a problem.
- Every prior version. The 911 call, the statement at the scene, the statement at the station, the PPO petition, the preliminary examination. Accounts that grow are accounts that can be impeached.
- Independent witnesses. Neighbors, family, anyone who saw either person before or after.
One evidentiary point that decides trials: MCL 768.27b lets prosecutors introduce other alleged acts of domestic violence you were never charged with. In a false-allegation case that rule invites a jury to convict on reputation. Fighting that motion is often the most important work in the file.
What to Do — and What Not to Do
Do not contact the accuser to demand a retraction. Asking someone to take back a statement can be charged as witness tampering, and it is a far worse problem than the original allegation. Do not delete messages, even embarrassing ones. Do not give a statement to police believing the truth will sort it out — see what to do if you are accused.
Do preserve everything, document your own injuries if there was a physical altercation, write down the sequence while it is fresh, and get an attorney involved before arraignment. If you were defending yourself, read self-defense in a Michigan domestic violence case — false allegation and self-defense frequently run together, because the person who called first is the one telling the story.
Frequently Asked Questions
How common are false allegations in domestic violence cases?
There is no reliable statistic, and anyone who quotes you a precise percentage is guessing. What I can tell you from practice is that domestic violence and criminal sexual conduct are the charges where I most often see allegations shaped by an outside motive — a pending divorce, a custody dispute, or an immigration or housing consequence — and that Michigan’s mandatory arrest policy means an accusation alone puts someone in handcuffs.
How do you prove a domestic violence allegation is false?
Rarely with a single dramatic moment. It is done by assembling the record: the timing of the accusation against the divorce or custody filing, the complete message history rather than selected screenshots, the 911 audio and body camera footage recorded before any story was constructed, physical evidence that contradicts the account, and every inconsistency between the first statement and later ones.
Can I sue someone for making a false accusation?
Sometimes, but this is almost always the wrong first move. Filing a civil suit while a criminal case is pending creates sworn statements and discovery that the prosecutor can use against you. Resolve the criminal case first, then consider whether a civil claim makes sense.
Why was I arrested if there is no evidence?
Because Michigan police operate under a mandatory arrest policy. Once responding officers have probable cause to believe an assault occurred, they make an arrest — and one person’s statement can supply that probable cause. An arrest is not a finding that anything happened, and cases that rest on a single uncorroborated account are exactly the cases that can be attacked.
Talk to Me Before You Talk to Anyone Else
I am Shawn Haff, and I defend domestic violence cases across Kent, Ottawa, Allegan, Barry, Ionia, Muskegon, Newaygo, and Van Buren counties. The call is free, I answer my own phone, and the earlier I am involved the more options you have. Call 616-438-6719 or send me a message.