Robinson v. City of Winston-Salem

PARKER, Judge.

This appeal presents the following question: What is the proper test for determining the civil liability of a Police Officer for false imprisonment when the officer, acting under a valid arrest warrant, arrests the wrong person because of a mistake in the identity of the person arrested? So far as research of counsel and our own research reveals, this is a question of first impression in this State.

In Melton v. Rickman, 225 N.C. 700, 703, 36 S.E. 2d 276, 277-78 (1945), Barnhill, J. (later C.J.), speaking for our Supreme Court, said:

A cause of action for false arrest or false…