Wrongful Arrests & Convictions

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Arrested... not yet convicted

Foreign student damages 10 planes in fit of rage. BODYCAM​

This guy was a student at a flight school in Florida, he came from India to eventually become a pilot. He became angry after school instructors would not allow him to take a solo flight. He damaged 10+ planes intentionally so that nobody would be able to fly them, was charged with Felony CRIMINAL MISCHIEF.

He was sentenced to 266 days in jail after pleading NOLO-CONTENDERE. I have not been able to find anything out about his visa status and if that's been revoked.
28
 
^^^^^^^

Innocent Mom Arrested, Mistreated in Jail, Missed Christmas​

Sep 20, 2024

What was supposed to be a joyous Christmas celebration turned into a nightmare for Jennifer Heath Box, when Broward County, Florida, sheriff’s deputies arrested her and threw her in jail for three days—all because they refused to check their paperwork to make sure they had the right person.

https://ij.org/case/florida-mistaken-...

Because of indifference of police and jail personnel, Jennifer missed Christmas with her family and, most importantly, missed seeing her son before he deployed overseas with the United States Marines.

Police did have a warrant for “Jennifer”—but not this Jennifer. This Jennifer had never been the subject of an arrest warrant and had never been charged with a crime. The Jennifer that police wanted was 23 years younger and five inches shorter than the Jennifer they arrested. She also lived in a different county, had a different driver’s license number, had different hair and eye colors, and even had a different last name—all information that police and jail personnel ignored.

While the wrong Jennifer spent her Christmas in jail, terrified and confused as to how something like this could happen, her family worked around the clock to get Jennifer out. But the more they learned, the more it became clear that Jennifer was sitting in jail because of an obvious mistake—one that Broward County officials failed to rectify even after they learned that Jennifer had been wrongfully arrested and incarcerated, and one to this day they’ve never apologized for.

Jennifer’s wrongful arrest and detention violated both the Fourth Amendment’s right to be free from unreasonable seizures, and the constitutional right to due process. Government officials should be held accountable when their mistakes lead to violations of constitutional rights. Jennifer is teaming up with the Institute for Justice (IJ) to hold Broward County and its officials responsible for their mistakes and to ensure that this nightmare does not happen to someone else.


5:20
 

Prosecutors say evidence clears him. He’s set to be executed today.​

Marcellus Williams has spent more than two decades on Missouri’s death row fighting his execution for a murder he says he did not commit. On Tuesday, Williams, 55, is scheduled for a repeatedly delayed execution that has raised alarms related to DNA evidence and questions of fairness from his 2001 trial.

More:

 

John Grisham on the wrongfully convicted: "It's not that difficult to convict an innocent person"​

What happened to Army veterans Mark Jones, Dominic Lucci and Kenny Gardiner on a January night in 1992 is almost impossible to believe. "It just blindsides you like a bolt of lightning," said Lucci.

"You're stunned and in shock," said Jones.

Gardiner said, "One day you're preparing to go before the promotion board, next day you're fighting for your freedom."

A chance encounter with a Savannah, Georgia, police officer investigating a murder cost each of them 26 years in prison for a crime they didn't commit. "Why us? Why then?" said Lucci. "We had nothing in our lives that would even bring anybody to the assumption of that. No logical reason for us to have done any of that."

More:

 

Trump sued by Central Park Five for defamation over claims made during Harris debate​

  • Five men who were wrongfully convicted in the so-called Central Park Five jogger rape case sued Donald Trump.
  • The men alleged in the lawsuit in Philadelphia federal court that the Republican presidential nominee defamed them by falsely claiming they killed someone and pleaded guilty.
  • Trump's claim about the men was made at his debate with Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, in September.
Five men who were wrongfully convicted as teenagers in the so-called Central Park Five jogger rape case sued Donald Trump on Monday, saying the Republican presidential nominee defamed them by falsely claiming they killed someone and pleaded guilty.

More:

 
It looks pretty murky to me. Read it and maybe you will go one way or the other. My feeling is that Trump chose the wrong side on this. But as always, I am willing to change my mind when new evidence appears.
 
searcher said:

John Grisham on the wrongfully convicted: "It's not that difficult to convict an innocent person"​

What happened to Army veterans Mark Jones, Dominic Lucci and Kenny Gardiner on a January night in 1992 is almost impossible to believe. "It just blindsides you like a bolt of lightning," said Lucci.

"You're stunned and in shock," said Jones.

Gardiner said, "One day you're preparing to go before the promotion board, next day you're fighting for your freedom."

A chance encounter with a Savannah, Georgia, police officer investigating a murder cost each of them 26 years in prison for a crime they didn't commit. "Why us? Why then?" said Lucci. "We had nothing in our lives that would even bring anybody to the assumption of that. No logical reason for us to have done any of that."

More:

Click to expand...


More:

John Grisham on “Framed: Astonishing True Stories of Wrongful Convictions” | Amanpour and Company​

Oct 25, 2024 #amanpourpbs

John Grisham is a best-selling author and a household name around the world. He channels his real-life passion for justice through his legal thrillers. For his latest book, Grisham teamed up with Centurion Ministries founder Jim McCloskey. The result is "Framed: Astonishing True Stories of Wrongful Convictions." Grisham joins the show to talk about the concept of a fair trial, the death penalty, and the flaws inherent in the interrogation process.


18:04
 
searcher said:

Prosecutors say evidence clears him. He’s set to be executed today.​

Marcellus Williams has spent more than two decades on Missouri’s death row fighting his execution for a murder he says he did not commit. On Tuesday, Williams, 55, is scheduled for a repeatedly delayed execution that has raised alarms related to DNA evidence and questions of fairness from his 2001 trial.

More:

Click to expand...

Update.

Missouri executes Marcellus Williams despite prosecutors and the victim’s family asking that he be spared​

Marcellus Williams, whose murder conviction was questioned by a prosecutor, died by lethal injection Tuesday evening in Missouri after the US Supreme Court denied a stay.

The 55-year-old was put to death around 6 p.m. CT at the state prison in Bonne Terre.

Williams’ attorneys had filed a flurry of appeal efforts based on what they described as new evidence – including alleged bias in jury selection and contamination of the murder weapon prior to trial. The victim’s family had asked the inmate be spared death.

The US Supreme Court’s action came a day after Missouri’s supreme court and governor refused to grant a stay of execution.

More:

 

ATF agent wins $1.6 million in lawsuit against Columbus police over 2020 arrest​

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — A jury ruled in favor of a former agent from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms on Friday, nearly four years after he sued the City of Columbus after an encounter with local police.

James Burk, an ATF agent who was on assignment in central Ohio, filed the lawsuit in December 2020. The case came a few months after Burk accused Columbus police officers Joseph Fihe and Kevin Winchell of “blatant misconduct” when they approached him, on duty and wearing credentials identifying his federal agency.

More:


 

Colorado DNA analyst appears on forgery charges as validity of more than 500 cases in doubt​

GOLDEN, Colo. (AP) — A former Colorado Bureau of Investigation DNA scientist appeared in court Thursday to face criminal charges over data tampering that authorities said raises questions about the validity of more than 500 cases.

Problems with the scientist’s work were found in cases involving homicide, sexual assault, robbery and other crimes, according to a law enforcement affidavit.

More:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crim...nd-other-charges/ar-AA1xHksY?ocid=socialshare

Crime Lab Analyst Hit With 102 FELONY Counts, Accused of Manipulating Evidence​

Jan 24, 2025

This could affect more than 1,000 cases.


14:27
 

He Was Convicted Based on Allegedly Fabricated Bite Mark Analysis. Louisiana Wants to Execute Him Anyway.​


Reporting Highlights​

  • Discredited Testimony: Nine prisoners who were convicted in part on inaccurate evidence presented by dentist Michael West and pathologist Dr. Steven Hayne have since been exonerated.
  • Junk Science: Jimmie Chris Duncan was sentenced to death row for killing his girlfriend’s toddler after allegedly manufactured bite mark evidence connected him to the crime.
  • Suppressed Evidence: Prosecutors did not reveal that a critical witness had written them a letter from jail in which he appeared to offer his assistance in exchange for leniency.
These highlights were written by the reporters and editors who worked on this story. Were they helpful?
Attorney Scott Greene warned those present in a Louisiana courtroom last September that the video they were about to see was disturbing. Created as part of a murder investigation, the 1993 tape showed a dentist repeatedly grinding a dental mold of the suspect’s teeth into the face and arm of a dead toddler during a post-mortem examination.

Those marks, which prosecutors decades ago had told jurors came from the suspect, were critical evidence in convicting Jimmie Chris Duncan, who has spent the past 27 years on death row for the killing of his girlfriend’s daughter. They were also a fraud, Greene argued at the appeals hearing.

More:

www.propublica.org

He Was Convicted Based on Allegedly Fabricated Bite Mark Analysis. Louisiana Wants to Execute Him Anyway.

Nine prisoners have walked free after evidence presented by members of a forensics team turned out to be wrong — yet one man still awaits execution based on their testimony.
www.propublica.org www.propublica.org
 

Compensating people who are wrongfully convicted is a hard sell in some states​

ATLANTA (AP) — Earlier this year, Michael Woolfolk attended a legislative committee in Georgia where lawmakers considered for a third year whether to compensate the 45-year-old for the 19 years he spent behind bars for a 2002 killing before charges against him were dismissed.

Behind him sat Daryl Lee Clark, also 45, who spent 25 years in prison for a 1998 murder conviction that was vacated over a series of legal and police errors. It was his second attempt to obtain compensation.

Georgia is one of 11 states with no law on compensating people found to have been wrongfully convicted. Individuals seeking compensation take their cases to the legislature, where they seek a lawmaker to sponsor a resolution to pay them. Critics say it mires the process in politics.

More:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/poli...S&cvid=fafc8b70f9664f38996873f128f21b30&ei=42
 

Man wrongfully imprisoned for 32 years sues authorities who put him there​

A Maryland man who was wrongly imprisoned for 32 years, including a decade on death row, is suing five former law enforcement officials.

John Huffington was pardoned by then-Gov. Larry Hogan in January 2023, who cited prosecutorial misconduct in granting a full innocence pardon to Huffington in connection with a 1981 double slaying in Harford County. A Maryland board approved $2.9 million in compensation for Huffington later that year during Gov. Wes Moore's administration.

More:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crim...ho-put-him-there/ar-AA1JgSKM?ocid=socialshare
 
wisconsinwatch.org

Special prosecutor weighing whether to criminally charge Outagamie County judge

Judge Mark McGinnis jailed a man who had an unrelated money dispute with a courthouse employee.
wisconsinwatch.org wisconsinwatch.org

Judge Investigated For Jailing Man Improperly​

Aug 26, 2025
Judge in Wisconsin jailed a man who was before him for a probation review - but he accused the man of ripping off a customer of his cement business. The customer was an employee of another judge in the same courthouse. Now a special investigator is examining the case.

11:01
 

Judge Who Jailed Man Wrongfully Will Retire​

Aug 29, 2025
A Wisconsin judge was being investigated for wrongfully jailing a man who appeared before him on another matter; the investigation appears to have ended because the judge has announced he will retire.


13:56
 

State Trooper Arrested Eight Sober Drivers for DUI​


Sep 3, 2025
This time it was a former US Attorney who was arrested while sober.


11:42
 
searcher said:
^^^^^^^

Innocent Mom Arrested, Mistreated in Jail, Missed Christmas​

Sep 20, 2024

What was supposed to be a joyous Christmas celebration turned into a nightmare for Jennifer Heath Box, when Broward County, Florida, sheriff’s deputies arrested her and threw her in jail for three days—all because they refused to check their paperwork to make sure they had the right person.

https://ij.org/case/florida-mistaken-...

Because of indifference of police and jail personnel, Jennifer missed Christmas with her family and, most importantly, missed seeing her son before he deployed overseas with the United States Marines.

Police did have a warrant for “Jennifer”—but not this Jennifer. This Jennifer had never been the subject of an arrest warrant and had never been charged with a crime. The Jennifer that police wanted was 23 years younger and five inches shorter than the Jennifer they arrested. She also lived in a different county, had a different driver’s license number, had different hair and eye colors, and even had a different last name—all information that police and jail personnel ignored.

While the wrong Jennifer spent her Christmas in jail, terrified and confused as to how something like this could happen, her family worked around the clock to get Jennifer out. But the more they learned, the more it became clear that Jennifer was sitting in jail because of an obvious mistake—one that Broward County officials failed to rectify even after they learned that Jennifer had been wrongfully arrested and incarcerated, and one to this day they’ve never apologized for.

Jennifer’s wrongful arrest and detention violated both the Fourth Amendment’s right to be free from unreasonable seizures, and the constitutional right to due process. Government officials should be held accountable when their mistakes lead to violations of constitutional rights. Jennifer is teaming up with the Institute for Justice (IJ) to hold Broward County and its officials responsible for their mistakes and to ensure that this nightmare does not happen to someone else.


5:20
Click to expand...


Update

Wrong Mom Arrested on Christmas Eve | Lawsuit UPDATE!​

Sep 9, 2025 #bodycam #lawenforcement #police
Imagine it’s Christmas Eve. You’ve just returned from a family cruise, you’re tired but happy, and you can’t wait to get home for the holidays. Instead, you’re suddenly surrounded by deputies, handcuffed in front of your children, and told you’re under arrest for a crime you didn’t commit. That’s exactly what happened to Jennifer Heath Box, a 50-year-old mother from Texas, who ended up spending 75 miserable hours in a Florida jail… all because police got the wrong Jennifer. I first told you her story 8 months ago, telling you about the lawsuit the Institute For Justice filed on her behalf, asking you to send them donations to help fund their efforts. Now I have a big update on that lawsuit, that many of you helped make a reality.
Details/ Court's Order: https://thecivilrightslawyer.com/2025...


10:58
 

Five sober drivers, arrested for DUI, file federal lawsuits against officers who arrested them in...​

Sep 11, 2025
One lawsuit resulted in a settlement with a payout of $75,000.


4:40
 
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