The American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado filed a federal lawsuit against the city and county of Denver citing over 500 cases between 2002 and 2009 where Denver authorities arrested or jailed the wrong person. The group claims that there is a pattern of law enforcement officers taking the wrong people into custody.  According to the suit, similar names, stolen identities and inaccurate records were often the culprit of the errors, but in other cases there were no explanations.

In many cases, the person wrongfully arrested does not even come close to matching the description of the person that authorities were looking for. In one of the incidents, a black man, Bradley Braxton, was arrested on an outstanding warrant for sexual assault and jailed. After he was wrongfully held for nine days, the authorities realized their mistake and Braxton was released. The man they were actually searching for was white and his name was David Eddy. Another case, occurred when police were searching for an American Indian woman named Christin FourHorn, wanted for aggravated robbery. Instead, they found and arrested Christina FourHorn and jailed her for five days. Christina FourHorn is white, 7 years older and 90 pounds heavier than the suspect, Christin FourHorn.

Denver’s city attorney does not believe that any constitutional rights had been violated in the cases highlighted by the lawsuit. He went on to say “There is no specific national law enforcement standard with regards to matching identification of suspects with warrants,” and “Denver is in the mainstream of how other jurisdictions handle this matter.”, reported the New York Times.  Although it is not clear how pervasive the problem is, Denver is not the only city struggling with the issue of false arrests. In a report last year, The Los Angeles Times found that hundreds of people had been wrongfully detained by the Sheriff’s department over a period of five years.

If you or someone you know has been wrongfully arrested or detained, you should immediately seek advice from a personal injury lawyer that is experienced in handling false arrest cases. For a free consultation with such an attorney, complete the form to the left or call 212-566-1000. Based in New York City, Sullivan & Brill, LLP represents clients throughout the United States, as well as in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx, Staten Island, Nassau County, Suffolk County, Westchester County and other upstate New York counties.