Libertarian ping! Click here to get added or here to be removed or post a message here!
Posted on 06/05/2014 7:42:23 AM PDT by Altariel
CHESTERTON, IN — An innocent man was arrested in an early morning raid and jailed for 10 days because he had the same first and last name as a drug suspect. The ordeal caused him to lose his job, rack up bills, and nearly get evicted from his home.
Steven M. Thompson, a service technician at Arcelor-Mittal Steel, received an “early morning visit” from the Porter County Drug Task Force (PCDTF) on on May 5th. He was taken from his teenage daughter in handcuffs.
Mr. Thompson had done nothing wrong. He assumed the misunderstanding would be easily cleared up once in police custody. Except it didn’t work out that way.
Despite collecting no evidence at Thompson’s home, he was charged with two Class B felonies for dealing pills and heroin. Each felony carries a 6-20 year prison sentence.
Accused of being a drug dealer, he was locked up in the Porter County Jail. Except he isn’t actually a drug dealer.
Days went by and he was not being released. With such difficulty in correcting the error, he began to think that going to prison might be a real possibility.
Finally, on the 10th day of confinement, he was able to prove his innocence with the help of attorney Bob Harper.
Although Thompson’s identity matched matched the signed warrant — down to the date of birth and middle initial — the data on the warrant had been incorrectly obtained. The intended suspect was Steven P. Thompson, who is three years younger and the same race, the Northwest Indiana Gazette confirmed.
Mr. Thompson’s false arrest caused him to rack up bills, face threats of eviction from his home, and lose his job after 6 years of employment.
Porter County Prosecutor Brian Gensel oversees the Porter County Drug Task Force (PCDTF), and dropped charges after it was evident that the wrong man had been arrested.
* * * * *
This case clearly illustrates the point that anyone — innocent or guilty — can be the target of government’s eager efforts to imprison Americans; the police state is not only felt by criminals. Those who turn a blind eye toward overzealous policing fail to recognize how easy it is to be subjected to a false accusation, a wrongful arrest, or a downright corrupt prosecution effort.
Mr. Thompson is “lucky” in the sense that the ordeal didn’t go further than it did. However, he still was fired from his job, lost 10 days of his life, lost his good name, and suffered numerous personal inconveniences. And this represents just one of countless botched arrests and injustices that have been caused by the War on Drugs.
i am no friend of the government but the fact is the differences in name and such were not found out for 10 days. Not like they held him after they found out?
Still the state and the DA’s office need to make restitution to this man. His old job should be hreatened with a suit as well if they don’t take him back. Legal fees. And a juicy payout for anguish.
The guy is lucky it was only ten days. Usually they'll let you rot in jail for at least two weeks before another hearing to give you a chance to get a lawyer and have him review the case, assuming you can't make bond.
The system is designed to force you to cop a plea, even if you are innocent, simply because it's easier for the "justice" system that way.
You're lucky you have a 24 hour requirement for that: many jurisdictions do not.
In Chicago, some guy was released after two years of continuances without ever having gone to trial.
If this does turn out to be a case of gross judicial abuse/misconduct/incompetence, I hope the guy makes a million from a lawsuit. But I'm not taking the screed of a cop-hating website as firm, unbiased fact.
I would say that part of the delay was deliberate in effort to cover up their bureaucratic bungling. You can be sure a ‘sanitation’ of what happened, a search for a fall guy and more than likely a full investigation Mr. Thompson was done in an effort to find some other charges they could hold him on anything from back child support to a missed court date 10 years ago for a traffic ticket.
ummmm it took them 10 days to figure out the guys name? 10 days when they could have opened in wallet.
More likely it took them about 4 hours to figure out they had the wrong guy and 9 1/2 days to come up with an excuse. Of course the lazy factor may have raised the 4 hours a bit.
The incompetents need to be fired.
Time for more than a lawsuit. Time to drop sovereign immunity and shield laws for public sector employees. As more and more govt functions migrate out of the realm of clerical workers (read Democrat politicians and voters) and into data aggregation, we’ll see how excited the low information types are about Big Govt.
I'm not a "cop hater," but I don't harbor illusions about the police: they are- at best - a necessary evil, and much of our talk about "constitutional rights" means little to the many I've known who have been arrested and beaten simply for "contempt of cop."
In our ‘justice’ system you only have rights if you have a lawyer and lots of money.
I was in court one Monday morning back in 1972 or so to deal with a traffic ticket. The case before mine involved a black man who had been awakened and arrested in his home at 6:30am the Saturday before. Alexandria Va. police had a warrant and took him to jail where he sat till Monday. When the judge asked him if he was “John James Jones” (don’t remember the exact name) he said no your honor, I am John Thomas Jones. The judge looked at the warrant, then at him. The judge said I see you’re not 6’2” (he was short), you aren’t 250lbs (he was skinny), and you aren’t 60 years old (he was in his 20s). The judge then signed a paper and gave it to him and said, “Here, you’ll need this when you sue the city.”
The real problem is, How did the bad data get in the system? What steps have been taken to prevent it from happening again?
it is very easy to go from mistake to “slap” arrest. (ala slap suits)
ALL this cases should be subject to attorney disbarment hearings on the prosecutors.
it is too easy to nifong.
one second is too much time.
citizens are not guilty until proven guilty.
We have the best justice money can buy.
So when they entered his finger prints into IAFIS nothing came back that would exclude him as a suspect or even a criminal?
Cha Ching!
Sohhhh he should change his name to something like Pocahontas?
LOL
(/S. Obviously)
In any event, the guy is owed some serious damages. Initially, it's not intentional, it's a negligence case, like a car accident involving a city employee. If they held him after they should have figured it out, then it's also a false arrest.
“Time for a lawsuit”
Was thinking the same thing. The city, his job, you name it.
How could they make a mistake like this after they got him to the jail and saw his face? Not like they don’t keep mugshots here in the year 2014. Know what I mean?
Indeed.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.