The Denver Post
POSTED: 01/05/2015 06:10:10 PM MST3 COMMENTS| UPDATED: ABOUT 14 HOURS AGO
The city of Denver is on the verge of settling another lawsuit after police and sheriff's deputies jailed the wrong man for 12 days.
Christian Robinson sued after he was arrested in 2010 by a Denver police officer, who failed to determine that he was not the person who was being sought on an arrest warrant.
The federal lawsuit was slated for trial this month, but a court order shows a settlement was reached. The settlement was reported first by 7News.
Raymond Bryant, Robinson's lawyer, said the amount was $88,530.
City Attorney Scott Martinez declined to comment.
Robinson's problems started when he was told by a potential employer in Las Vegas that he had an outstanding warrant in Denver.
Robinson went to Denver Police Department headquarters to straighten out the confusion. But he was arrested and held in the Denver jail for 12 days, Bryant said.
Another man, who had been arrested on drug charges, used Robinson's name and birth date as an alias. That man had failed to appear in court after paying a bond to get out of jail.
Police could have looked at photos and other identifying records to determine Robinson was not the man they were looking for, Bryant said.
To further complicate the situation, a Denver Sheriff Department employee saw the two names on the warrant and changed a state identification number to Robinson, rather than the man who was wanted, Bryant said.
Denver has had a problem with wrongful arrests before.
Last month, the city settled a 6-year-old lawsuit for $337,250. Payments were made to three people and the ACLU of Colorado, which had filed the suit.
The city has continued to work with the ACLU to change its practices in hopes of avoiding wrongful arrests.
But Bryant said work remains to be done.
"The city has failed to implement a city-wide law enforcement policy to address this," Bryant said.
Police continue to act if they have never heard of the concept of identity theft.
ReplyDeleteFurthermore, they continue to act as if arresting someone is the be-all and end-all of law enforcement actions. When someone comes into their jurisdiction in order to clear up a matter, they arrest him or her.
These are certain signs of mental and/or moral impairment on the part of law enforcement and related officers, officials, and staff.