Woman jailed for filing false arrest warrant
A woman who admitted to the court she lied when she swore out a warrant on her boyfriend was jailed Tuesday for filing the false warrant.
The woman, Tina Melson, was directed to serve 48 hours for contempt of court by General Sessions Judge Larry Ross. The charges against her boyfriend, Stanley Brooks, were dismissed.
“The problem we’ve seen is people get mad at one another and then go get a warrant,” said District Attorney Dale Potter. “Then, when they get in court, after the person has been arrested and had to make bond, they back off and want the charges dropped.”
Melson was jailed Tuesday after she admitted, in open court, she made up the charges against her boyfriend. Brooks had been arrested on charges of domestic assault after Melson swore out a warrant this June saying he had struck her several times, banged her head into a stove, pulled her hair and slapped her.
Melson did not reveal why she swore out the false warrant other than she was angry with her boyfriend.
According to Potter, efforts are being made to discourage people from taking false or frivolous warrants, an initiative which could someday lead to felony charges being leveled against persons who wrongly swear out warrants.