Posted on 08/07/2007 9:02:39 AM PDT by stainlessbanner
OCALA, Fla. -- The Internal Affairs Division of the Marion County Sheriff's Office has launched an investigation into a clerical error that mistakenly put a woman behind bars for nine days.
Amy Sellers, 22, of Ocala, was taken into custody about two weeks ago for a warrant that matched another 28-year-old woman named Amy Sellers.
Sellers, who had not committed any crimes, said she was taken into custody and immediately thrown into the inmate population.
"When I found out, I got no first appearance and I (didn't get) to see a judge," Sellers said. "They put me into population."
The Marion County Sheriff's Office admitted that Sellers' incident was a mistake.
"Due to a clerical error, the incorrect information was put into the computer system for a warrant that matched another Amy Sellers, who also has a criminal history in Marion County," a sheriff's office statement issued Monday said.
Sellers is in the system for drunken driving and driving with a suspended license four years ago but has not been arrested since.
Sellers' boyfriend said he spent days trying to show the sheriff's office the error. He said when the sheriff's office finally believed him, the jail kept Sellers another day to verify the mistake.
Sellers said she lost 15 pounds while behind bars and is considering suing over the incident.
"My faith in the justice system is crumbled and gone completely and I don't know if I will ever be able to salvage it again," Sellers said. "What if I was a single mother, 30 years old, that this happened to that for 10 days was in jail for the wrong reasons and lost her kids and job."
The sheriff's office said it would reimburse Sellers for any expenses she incurred while jailed.
Sellers said, "That is a joke," Local 6 reported.
The Internal Affairs Division is also investigating the warrant process in connection with the case.
Not Guilty!
In a just society, this girl would OWN the Sheriff’s department.
Lost 9lbs in 10 days; people pay good money for that.
I get the impression she knows she hit the jackpot.
Modern weapons have taken all the mystery out of dueling, but there'd be many fewer instances of this sort of thing if it were still used (as necessary of course)(and only after being reinstated by the state legislature).
Criminal incompetence, having a negative effect on one person or millions, remarkably, is not a crime -- yet.
SssMokin!
is considering suing over the incident?.....Hells Bells I’d be beating down the lawyers by now trying to get some of this!!!!.....
My thought exactly!
Actually it was 15lbs in 9 days.
And yes, that’s worth a month of special low-fat meals!
It should be.
Instead, she apparently had her boyfriend phoning the sherriff.
She would have spent only a night in jail if she had behaved logically.
That might be a bit awkward, since the "wrong" woman also had a criminal record. She may not want to publicize this.
Another unintended lesson here: having a "minor" criminal record is not harmless. I suspect that if her record had been clean, the mixup would have made no sense.
I just hope no one assumes that I am dismissing bureaucratic incompetence.
The sad thing is that cops and prosecutors don’t really care if they put innocent people in prison, as long as their careers are advanced.
A just society awards value commensurate with the damage done.
This woman does not deserve tens of millions of her fellow citizens' money.
If she didn't have a history of being a drunk who was in the habit of endangering the lives of her fellow citizens she would never have been arrested on this warrant in the first place.
“The sheriff’s office said it would reimburse Sellers for any expenses she incurred while jailed.”
What did they do, charge her to stay there while they had their thumbs up their ....?
Can see “Lawsuit” in big bold letters. Wonder why did it take the sheriff’s office days to figure out it made a mistake? This is stupidity 101.
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