Charges get dropped every day in New York, and the people they were filed against often walk out wondering whether anyone is answerable for what just happened to them. Can you sue for malicious prosecution in New York, and what do you actually have to prove? The claim exists, it’s real, and it’s also narrower than most people expect — because “the case against me fell apart” and “the case against me should never have been brought” are two different things, and only the second one supports a lawsuit.
The Four Elements
A malicious prosecution claim in New York requires four things, and all four have to be there:
- The defendant started or continued a criminal proceeding against you. Usually that means a police officer who swore out the complaint, or in narrower circumstances a prosecutor or a private citizen who pushed the case forward.
- The proceeding ended in your favor.
- There was no probable cause for the charge.
- The defendant acted with actual malice — meaning a wrongful motive, something other than a genuine intent to bring a guilty person to justice.
Element three is where most claims live or die. Probable cause is a low bar, deliberately so, and an officer can be wrong about a case without having lacked probable cause to bring it. Being innocent is not the same as showing nobody had reason to charge you.
What "Ended in Your Favor" Means — and What Changed
For years this element was a genuine trap. Courts in some parts of the country required a plaintiff to show the case ended with some affirmative signal of innocence, which is almost never how real dismissals work. Prosecutors drop charges without explanation constantly.
The Supreme Court resolved that in Thompson v. Clark in 2022. For a Fourth Amendment malicious prosecution claim brought under federal civil rights law, a plaintiff need only show the prosecution ended without a conviction. No affirmative indication of innocence is required. A dismissal with no reason given can qualify.
The Court narrowed another common defense in Chiaverini v. City of Napoleon in 2024, holding that the existence of probable cause for one charge does not automatically defeat a malicious prosecution claim based on a different charge that lacked it. That matters in the ordinary situation where someone is charged with several offenses at once and only some of them were supportable.
Who Gets Sued, and in Which Court
These claims are brought against the municipality whose officers were involved, and they can proceed in either state or federal court. New York State Supreme Court is a court of general jurisdiction and can hear federal civil rights claims alongside state-law claims, so the choice of forum is a strategic one rather than something dictated by the type of claim. A separate track exists for claims against the State itself: New York’s compensation statute for people who were wrongfully convicted and imprisoned runs through the Court of Claims, and we cover it on our wrongful conviction and actual innocence page.
Those are not alternatives to each other in the ordinary sense. They target different defendants, require different proof, and carry different deadlines. Some situations support one and not the other.
A Warning Worth Reading Before You Accept Any Disposition
Not every ending counts as ending in your favor, and some of the most common ways a criminal case wraps up will quietly close the door on a malicious prosecution claim.
An adjournment in contemplation of dismissal, or ACD, is the clearest example. It feels like a win, and in the criminal case it often is. But because an ACD is not a determination that the charge was unfounded, accepting one can bar a later malicious prosecution claim. The same problem arises with a plea to a lesser charge: a plea is a conviction, and a conviction defeats the favorable-termination element outright.
This is why the decision is worth making with full information rather than in a hallway before a court appearance. If you are weighing an ACD or a reduced plea and you believe the charges should never have been brought, speak with us and with your criminal defense attorney before you accept it, so you can decide knowingly what you may be giving up. Your criminal lawyer’s job is to resolve the criminal case on the best available terms; whether that resolution also forecloses a civil claim is a separate question, and the two are worth weighing together.
Two Routes, Two Very Different Clocks
This is the part that costs people their claims, and it’s worth being precise about.
A malicious prosecution claim can be brought as a federal civil rights claim under Section 1983, or as a state-law tort claim, and sometimes both. They do not share a deadline.
The state-law claim is governed by CPLR 215(3), which allows one year. Federal Section 1983 claims in New York borrow the state’s three-year personal injury period under CPLR 214. Both generally start running when the criminal case terminates, not when the arrest happened.
Then there’s the municipal layer. If you’re suing a city, county, or other public entity on a state-law claim, General Municipal Law § 50-e generally requires a notice of claim within 90 days, and § 50-i limits the action to one year and ninety days. Ninety days is short enough that people routinely miss it while still absorbing what happened to them. The notice-of-claim requirement does not apply to federal Section 1983 claims, which is one reason the two routes get pursued differently.
Malicious Prosecution Is Not False Arrest
These travel together and get conflated constantly, but they cover different stretches of time.
False arrest covers the detention itself — being taken into custody without legal justification. Malicious prosecution covers what came after: the charge being pursued through the court system. Someone can have one claim without the other. An arrest supported by probable cause followed by charges the officer knew were baseless is a malicious prosecution scenario, not a false arrest one. The deadlines also differ, because false arrest claims generally start running when the detention ends rather than when the case concludes.
How These Cases Get Proven
Malice is rarely stated out loud, so it usually has to be built from the record: what the officer knew at the time versus what went into the sworn complaint, whether exculpatory information was ignored, inconsistencies between reports, body-worn camera footage, radio runs, and the prosecution’s own file. Much of that material is held by the agencies being sued and has to be obtained through formal discovery, which is why these cases move slowly and why preserving the underlying criminal case file early matters so much.
Where the prosecution withheld evidence that should have been disclosed, that can also support a separate constitutional claim — the subject of our article on Brady violations.
This article is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Speaking with an attorney can help you understand how New York law may apply to your specific situation. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
Contact Held & Hines LLP
We have successfully handled many cases of this kind, in both state and federal court. If criminal charges against you were dismissed, dropped, or ended in acquittal and you believe they should never have been brought, the firm can review the facts under our Wrongful Conviction & Actual Innocence and Personal Injury practice areas and help you understand your options.
If you are currently incarcerated, please reach the firm by phone or mail, or through your facility’s approved email service. If you are writing on behalf of someone who is incarcerated, you can use the contact form.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you sue for malicious prosecution if your charges were dismissed?
Possibly. A dismissal can satisfy the favorable-termination element, but you must also show there was no probable cause for the charge and that the person who brought it acted with malice.
What are the elements of malicious prosecution in New York?
Four: the defendant commenced or continued a criminal proceeding against you; it terminated in your favor; there was no probable cause; and the defendant acted with actual malice.
Do I have to prove I was innocent?
No. Under Thompson v. Clark (2022), a federal malicious prosecution claim requires only that the prosecution ended without a conviction — not an affirmative showing of innocence.
How long do I have to file a malicious prosecution claim in New York?
It depends on the route. State-law claims generally allow one year under CPLR 215(3); federal Section 1983 claims generally allow three years. Claims against a municipality also generally require a notice of claim within 90 days.
What's the difference between false arrest and malicious prosecution?
False arrest concerns the detention itself. Malicious prosecution concerns the criminal case pursued afterward. They have different elements and different deadlines, and a person may have one claim without the other.