Unfortunately, this happens far too often in the real world. Someone is arrested when information mistakenly names them as a suspect.
Police and dispatchers are human, and they make mistakes. In some cases, the suspect’s name is mixed up with the witness’s name who called in the alleged crime.
A police report written by the arresting officer may have inaccurate information, which, in some cases, can be corrected. Insurance companies rely on these police reports and generally consider them credible, so it is essential to have them corrected as soon as possible.
If you believe a police mistake led to your arrest, please do not hesitate to call experienced Mobile, Alabama, criminal lawyer Jason Darley. He will be your biggest ally during this difficult time.
You will need help providing evidence to show law enforcement that they have the wrong person behind bars and that you were deprived of your liberty by an unlawful detention.
Wrongful Arrest
An unlawful arrest occurs when an officer exceeds his authority, the individual is detained, and that officer restricts his freedom of movement.
Different forms of wrongful arrest can lead to unlawful detention. They include:
- Omission of probable cause that the person committed a crime
- Absence of reading one’s Miranda Rights
- An arrest based on race
- An arrest to increase a department’s crime statistics
- An arrest where it is personal and based on malice
- Law enforcement lied when they got a warrant and arrested you
- Law enforcement planted evidence
- When false information is given to police to issue the warrant
- Any arrest conducted without proper legal authority
- When law enforcement made a mistake, arresting a person with the same name but not date-of-birth
- When facial recognition technology IDs the wrong person
In other words, your unreasonable detention was not warranted by the circumstances.
You will want to make sure any arrest report is accurate, and you may be able to address that at the scene respectfully with the arresting officer.
It’s easier to have it written correctly at the scene than to have it amended later.
Once brought before the judge, you will not want to plead guilty to any of the charges. You may have lost your right to have them reversed if you do.
Your Alabama Criminal Wrongful Arrest Attorney
Our experienced Alabama criminal attorney will help you fight this wrongful detention.
He will review the police report to look for discrepancies and determine if you have an alibi.
He will compare the name of the person arrested to see if the DOB, height, and other identifying information match.
Anyone who made a false police report has committed a misdemeanor under Alabama’s criminal statute. That is punishable by up to one year in jail and a fine of up to $6,000.
Facial recognition technology is notoriously unreliable, especially if the suspect is Black or Asian, according to a 2019 national study of more than 100 facial recognition algorithms. Multiple persons have complained that the technology is flawed, which led to their arrests.
Another face recognition search may not match you with the image of the suspect at the scene.
You may be able to file a lawsuit against the department that conducted the wrongful arrest, the police officer, or the township.
If you have been deprived of your liberty due to unlawful detention and believe that the circumstances did not warrant action or that the arrest was intentional and there was no probable cause, you may seek the following:
* Addressing any harm to your reputation
* Public embarrassment
* Missed work and wages
* Punitive damages if you were physically harmed
* False arrest and imprisonment
* Malicious prosecution
* Wrongful conviction
You may also be able to file a federal civil rights claim under Section 1983 if there is no probable cause.
Anyone who deliberately accused you of a crime they knew was false could be the subject of a civil lawsuit for making false accusations.
Let Mr. Darley and his experience as a criminal defense attorney advocate for you. If probable cause is missing, we may be able to recover for your false arrest and imprisonment, and malicious prosecution.
Call his Mobile office at (251) 441-7772 immediately to prove your innocence.
Sources:
NYT
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/19/us/florida-police-officer-false-arrests.html
2006 Alabama Code
https://law.justia.com/codes/alabama/2006/13297/13a-10-9.html