Can a plaintiff recover damages from a police officer for false arrest and false imprisonment?

Federal law, as reflected in Smiddy v. Varney, supra, is similar to California law in that it generally limits the plaintiff to recovery for injuries caused prior to the filing of a criminal complaint.⁴ (665 F.2d at p. 266.) It does so, however, not because police officers are immune from liability for malicious prosecution-under federal law they are not⁵-but "because it is presumed that the prosecutor filing the complaint exercised independent judgment in determining that probable cause for an accused's arrest exists at that time." (Ibid.) Thus, the federal courts presume the institution of criminal charges breaks the chain of causation so that further injuries from incarceration are not attributable to the false arrest and false imprisonment. (Id. at p. 267.)