Posted on 02/16/2009 8:09:09 AM PST by Born Conservative
BLOOMSBURG (PA)— A man mistakenly jailed for three months says his imprisonment was a blessing because it resulted in a $77,500 lawsuit settlement.
Eric Delvonne Smith, 36, of Hazleton, was arrested in January 2006 after he called police to witness him picking up two of his sons from their mother’s house. He was in a custody battle with the boys’ mother.
An officer arrived and ran Smith’s name and date of birth through a federal database of criminals, then arrested him on a warrant issued in King County, Wash., for Edgar Michael Smith, the Press Enterprise of Bloomsburg reported Sunday.
Eric Smith’s fingerprints matched the ones on file for Edgar Smith, patrolman Keith McAlarney wrote in court papers.
In his lawsuit, Eric Smith said he repeatedly insisted he wasn’t the wanted man. He wasn’t released until April 11, after prison officials and state police, in response to his ongoing complaints, rechecked his prints and found they did not match Edgar Smith’s.
Hazleton does not admit to any wrongdoing, said Jack Dean, the attorney representing the city.
“The city’s obligation was to do a reasonable search of records, then put him in custody if that search justified it,” Dean said. “The city did those proper checks.”
Shelly Centini, Smith’s attorney in the civil case, disagreed but said the settlement was reasonable.
Smith was convicted in 1990 of assault with intent to rape, said an official in Prince George’s County, Md.
Smith said some of the money will go toward a legal battle to gain custody of his 5-year-old daughter and support his other children. He plans to get his own apartment with enough room for his children, and may finish his two-year degree as a mechanic, or buy a new truck for the auto detailing business he and his brother run.
“I’ve always been told, I’m just an ex-felon, an ex-con, a jailbird, a bad father,” he said.
“But now (the officer) gave me money for my kids. ... I’m part of society now. I can bury my past. Money is everything in society, and now I have enough to show I’ve put my old life behind me.”
I really gotta learn to ignore you anarchist morons.
Ain't America great?
What are the odd? Two guys, both named Smith.
“Eric Smith’s fingerprints matched the ones on file for Edgar Smith, patrolman Keith McAlarney wrote in court papers.”
Let’s see...Yep, little squiggly lines here and here...perfect match.
Sounds like perjury and/or incompetence.
The author is an idiot. When describing a case of mistaken identity, where the only name differentiators are the full first name (same initials) and middle name, the author drops down into shorthand where references to the individual who won the lawsuit are cribbed down to the last name - the very same last name as the other guy from Washington state.
When I have to read something three, four, or five times to make sure I’m understanding it correctly, then my firm belief is that the author needs remedial writing-for-comprehension coursework.
/rant
I’ve never been arrested.
If you don’t count my development.
Yeah, this fine, upstanding citizen would make a fine father:
“Smith was convicted in 1990 of assault with intent to rape, said an official in Prince George’s County, Md.”
And who is the clerk?
Guy should take $10 of his new found gains and go buy himself a copy of The Count of Monte Cristo by Dumas.
Ummmm, excuse my ignorance, but just what reason did the officer have to arrest Smith? Certainly not his fingerprints, since I doubt there are very few fingerprinting/analysis/comparison machines in the field with the on-the-street officer. Only after arresting Smith, whose other names were completely different than those in the warrant (was the DOB the same- which is not reallly uncommon), and on a warrant issued clear across the whole country, exactly what were the grounds for arrest?
Obviously, we aren't getting/given the actual facts of the story here by the 'journalist' retard who was writing this story, so we can't make any determination. But the excuse of matching fingerprints for "probably cause" to arrest leaves me scratching my head.
Then again, we're getting to the point where the jackbooted thugs don't really need much of any reason, only an excuse, to detain, arrest and imprison most anyone. And in HNIC's reign, we'll see only more of this type of thing.
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