A former Colorado Springs police officer admitted that she had fabricated allegations of domestic assault in order to have an ex-boyfriend jailed. The boyfriend in question had served six months in jail, faced two separate jury trials and had been fired from his job – presumably due to the false allegations.
The man falsely charged had difficulty finding other employment due to a restraining order that had been issued against him. The former girlfriend was facing a number of charges herself concerning her fabrications, but those charges appear to have been dropped so long as (1) she agrees to lift the restraining order upon the former boyfriend; and (2) admits that she lied about the domestic violence incident in court.
Whether the actions against the former girlfriend are appropriate is another question: what is important here is the devastating nature of the false charges against this individual. Without the woman admitting that she had lied about the incident, it’s possible that these charges would have haunted the man for the remainder of his life.
It cases of domestic violence and domestic assault, it is still up to those bringing the charges to demonstrate that what was alleged actually occurred. Attorneys defending individuals charged have the right to challenge any evidence brought against their clients and force the prosecution to prove up their case.
However it came about, surveillance footage proved that the man charged was at the mall instead of with the girlfriend at the time that the domestic assault allegedly took place. Fortunately, it did not take long for the woman’s story to unravel and charges against the man to be quickly dropped.
Source: The Gazette, “Former Colorado Springs cop accused of lying pleads guilty,” by Lance Benzel, April 29, 2013