More Vanderpump Drama: Will Raquel Leviss be charged with making a false police report?
Probably not. Here's why.
Raquel Leviss (fka Rachel1) alleged that, once news broke of Raquel’s affair with Tom Sandoval (covered here), Scheana Shay "pushed [Raquel] against a brick wall causing injury to the back of head and punched [Raquel] in the face causing injury to [Raquel’s] left eye."
Raquel filed a request for a restraining order and filed a battery report with the Los Angeles Police Department. The TRO was granted, but the request for the permanent2 restraining order was dismissed after Raquel declined to pursue it.3
Scheana Shay's attorney Neama Rahmani said that Raquel “filed a false police report, a false medical report, and a frivolous petition for a restraining order."
More specifically, it’s understood that the eye injury Raquel blamed on Scheana actually existed way before this incident.
The question now swirling is: can Raquel be prosecuted for filing a false police report?
Here’s the law:
Every person who (1) makes a false report with a police officer or government attorney and (2) knows that report is false is guilty of a misdemeanor.
California Penal Code 148.5
So…will Raquel be charged with filing a false police report?
Probably not.
First, a physical altercation *did* occur. Raquel grabbed Scheana’s wrist, and, in response, Scheana pushed her. So, Raquel’s report is heavily exaggerated, but not outright false.
Second, the threat of a thing is sometimes more important than the thing itself. Scheana’s lawyer sent a thinly veiled threat at Raquel. He told US Weekly that Scheana could sue for defamation, malicious prosecution or abuse of process. I don’t believe she will, but the threat will keep Raquel out of Scheana’s way.
Third, Scheana is enjoying being seen as a victim. Scheana gladly spoke to TMZ after the dismissal and has already recorded a 56-minute podcast about how Raquel victimized Scheana. The embarrassment of Raquel not showing up to court is probably a big enough victory for Scheana to hold over Raquel’s head forever.
I’m honestly pretty tired of the Raquel vs Rachel thing. Can we all pick one and move on?
“Permanent” is a misnomer because in California, restraining orders are for 5 years unless renewed. But “permanent” is how the lawyers for this case and mainstream media have described it, so I’m using it here.
Raquel didn’t show up to court. Raquel actually gave Scheana draft dismissal papers before the court date (at the taping of the Vanderpump Rules Reunion), but Scheana says Raquel never filed the dismissal papers.