Court of Appeal Affirms Constitutionality of Warning on Citizen Complaint Forms

By: Rains Lucia Stern St. Phalle & Silver, PC.

On May 19, 2022, the California Court of Appeal issued a published decision affirming the issuance of an injunction against the City of Los Angeles that prohibits the City from accepting a citizen’s complaint against a peace officer unless the complainant reads and signs the advisory required by Penal Code section 148.6 (a)(2) that filing a knowingly false complaint of peace officer misconduct may result in criminal prosecution. [Click to view Decision]

Penal Code section 148.6 requires complainants to read and sign an advisory informing them of the right to file the complaint, mandatory investigation and records retention requirements, and that it is a misdemeanor for any person to file a knowingly false allegation of police misconduct. Specifically, subdivision (a)(2) of section 148.6 mandates the following warning on civilian complaint forms:

A law enforcement agency accepting an allegation of misconduct against a peace ....