[constable tom]

Wow. It's one thing to read about this in the abstract, another to have lived it, as you have. I read Bias recently, too.

So, any chance of turning the tables on Gil Garcete over this issue and getting him voted out of office? He's the DA who is ruthlessly pursuing these default judgements in LA, right?

[Myrddin]

The DA's office has people assigned to handle claims of mistaken identity. The person that handled my claim was very thorough and professional. It took 6 weeks because she had 1000 pending cases to investigate.

I provided detailed identification, pictures, job history, residence history. I even tracked down the real respondant using web searches and a few carefully worded phone calls. The custodial mom verified that I was not her ex-husband. I received a letter of apology from the DA's office.

An additional pain in the experience was that I had just received a layoff notice via FedEx overnight. I barely had that envelope opened when the postman brought the two registered letters that turned out to be lawsuits. It was a truly wonderful day :-(