3-17-17 Colorado:
PINE JUNCTION, Colo. -- Colorado's sex offender registry is the last place Ray Crawford expected to find his address listed online.
"I couldn't believe what I was seeing," said the 52-year-old, who went to the website maintained by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation out of simple curiosity to see if any of his neighbors might be on it.
Instead, he discovered a green icon with the words "Failure to Register" placed in a spot that looked very familiar.
"Clicked on the symbol and the person’s name pops up who I bought the house from two-and-a-half years ago," said a shocked Crawford, who had no idea he bought his home from a convicted sex offender named Ray Clark.
"My worry is that somebody might want to come by and hurt me," Crawford said, before adding, "They can’t tell the difference between blue-eyed Ray and blue-eyed Ray, same name, same last initial."
If you type Ray Clark into the search bar on the sex offender registry website, it shows Clark registered to an address in Lakewood, which is accurate.
But most people search the CBI website using the "map search" function to see if they live next to any sex offenders.
That's what Ray Crawford did, never guessing he would find Ray Clark's name still listed at what is now Ray Crawford's address.
Crawford said that he now thinks the website mistake may be the reason he's felt a cold shoulder from neighbors when he says hello at the community mailbox. "I`m going to write a letter and put it on all the mailboxes, and tell them 'Hey I`m Ray, blue-eyed Ray on the hill but I`m not that guy.' It`s really embarrassing, it`s beyond embarrassing."
Susan Medina is the communications director for the Colorado Bureau of Investigation and said her agency is very apologetic and anxious to fix the mistake. "With thousands of sex offenders across the state it is important that when an error is caught that we`re notified ... we don`t have a timeline of when that is going to be completed but I can tell you it is a priority."
Crawford told the Problem Solvers he's thankful FOX31 got involved, "I`m absolutely appreciative. I thank you very much for coming out here." ..Source.. by Rob Low
March 17, 2017
Sex offender registry mix-up puts wrong house on map
November 3, 2015
App wrongfully labeled Cape Coral man's home as sex offender residence
11-3-15 Florida:
CAPE CORAL, Fla. -- A Cape Coral man is upset with some wrong public information out there saying his home is housing a sex offender.
Donald Montgomery was shocked to find out his home was listed as one where a sex offender lives on the Ping4 app. The app notifies the public on safety alerts partners with the Cape Coral Police Department.
Montgomery found out when checking the app after seeing a story on tracking sex offenders on FOX4. He said when he pulled up his address to see what sex offenders lived in the neighborhood, he was stunned.
"Looked at our neighborhood and found that our address of our home was listed as a registered sex offender. We were shocked when we went to the app and saw our address listed on that app as being the home of registered sex offenders," said Montgomery.
To undo the red mark on his home shown on the app's map, he called Ping4, who admitted it was old info. A sex offender lived there before Donald did.
FOX 4 asked Cape Coral police how they missed it too.
"Looks like we had an old data point that was still left in the database that the company downloaded from the state," said Dana Coston of the Cape Coral Police Department," Sgt. Dana Coston said.
Coston says this is the first time he's ever heard of something like this happening but adds the app's main purpose is to send you public safety alerts.
"The feature that they include for Ping4 for sex offenders is a secondary feature for what our primary use for that is," Sgt. Coston said. ..Source.. by Malcolm Johnson
October 23, 2015
Va. father mistakenly flagged as sex offender while visiting daughter's school on her birthday
see also: Tech company blames human error by school employee for mistaken sex offender mishap10-23-15 Virginia:
WOODBRIDGE, Va. - A Woodbridge father showed up to his daughter's elementary school to surprise her for her birthday. However, for 8-year-old Aniya Williams, it’s a birthday she will remember, but for all the wrong reasons.
“I started passing out cupcakes, doing all the meet and greets and then I see three officers come in,” said Aniya’s father, Justin. “I didn't know what was going on. They approached me [and said], ‘Are you the sexual offender?’ I'm like, ‘Whoa, what are you talking about?’”
Justin Williams said the mix-up happened in the middle of River Oaks Elementary School's cafeteria.
Prince William County police arrived at the school after Williams showed identification to a school employee and his name produced an alert.“Then they said, ‘You're the sexual offender from Washington State,’” Williams explained to FOX 5. “I've never been to Washington state.
I said, ‘Can we step outside? There's a lot of kids right here.'"The conversation between Williams and police moved to the hallway.“I gave them my ID, name came back clear,” said Williams.
“They were looking for Justin L. Williams. My name is Justin Benjamin Williams. He's 6'1,” 250 [pounds]. I'm 5'6,” maybe 190 [pounds].”Aniya’s father said he was detained for more than an hour by county and then state police and the surprise birthday celebration was ruined.
“My kids are in the school crying,” said Williams. “All the other kids [are wondering], What's happening? What did your daddy do? Is he a murderer? What did he do?’ Embarrassing my kids, humiliating me.”
Prince William County police say they were contacted by the school, responded and it was determined Williams is not a registered sex offender.
A Prince William County Public Schools spokesperson said, "It appears that a computer system in place to protect our students inaccurately flagged a parent as possible offender.
Police were called and reportedly asked the parent to talk with them. The error was quickly found, but unfortunately not before the incident upset the student."
“I would like to see some type of justice,” said Aniya’s grandfather, Justin Jr. “If he got humiliated in public at the school, maybe there should be an apology in public just to clear it with her classmates and the staff and administration.
”The school district spokesperson said, "We deeply regret that this happened and will be investigating the situation to make sure it does not happen again.
The principal immediately apologized to the family, and I echo that apology on behalf of Prince William County Public Schools.
”The spokesperson goes on to say, "We regret that the family had this experience and hope they will understand that it began with a system in place to safeguard our students.
"That system is now part of the investigation as administrators determine what went wrong. Police say they have a right to detain someone until it is deemed that it is not a criminal matter. ..Source.. by Tisha Lewis
October 14, 2015
Error in sex offender registry cut short
Now, off the state registry, BUT, how does he get off all those illegal registries that are never updated?10-14-15 Michigan:
HILLSDALE — Contrary to the Michigan Public Sex Offender Registry’s listing and the word of its officials, Andrew Fether, the U.S. Army veteran erroneously placed on the list, was still registered — until very recently.
Renae Shircliff, Deputy Director of the Hillsdale County Veterans’ Affairs Office, said that Jon-Paul Rutan, a veteran who aided Fether through legal proceedings after he was put on the SOR in error, approached her with the fact during the Hillsdale County Fair.
Rutan expressed concern over the fact that Fether was still on the list despite a four-year battle to remove him; Fether’s placement was predicated on a baseless accusation a former platoon member leveled against him during his deployment with the American armed forces in the Middle East.
“Mr. Rutan talked to me,” Shircliff said. “I told him, ‘Let me talk to Mr. Brady and Rod [Hassinger, assistant prosecutor].’”
Shircliff made an appointment with Hassinger and explained the situation. Fether didn’t have the funds to hire an attorney to file a proper motion to remove him from the list altogether, leaving the officials in need of recourse.
“Rod said, ‘I’m tired of this always coming back at us,’” Shircliff said. “He decided to file a motion with [Hillsdale County District Court Judge Sara] Lisznyai himself.”
Hassinger created a motion and order to remove Fether from the list.
“Pursuant to an independent investigation conducted by the Veteran Affairs Office and the Hillsdale County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office,” reads the motion, “Defendant was incorrectly placed on the SORA list. Our office dismissed the criminal charges that occurred. We request that this Honorable Court grant the People’s motion and order Defendant removed from the SORA list.”
The discrepancy, then, came apparently through SORA administration; as of June, when last the Hillsdale Daily News updated the story, Fether’s name no longer appeared on the public SORA website, and a call placed to SORA administration confirmed that he was no longer considered a registered sex offender.
After Shircliff received Fether’s approval, Lisznyai signed the motion and Shircliff faxed it to SORA “right away,” she said
Shircliff said that Melissa Marinoff, a representative from SORA who had been involved in Fether’s case previously, promised to complete the order within 24 hours, despite email correspondence that said the motion would be prioritized and handled “immediately.” Marinoff said that a 24-hour investigation was necessary to approve the motion.
That was around 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 1, Shircliff said.
The next day, however, Shircliff tried in vain to reach Marinoff to confirm the status of the investigation.
“They said, ‘Sorry, Melissa isn’t in today,’” Shircliff said.
Taking matters into her own hands, Shircliff called Marinoff’s supervisor in an attempt to expedite the process. During a number of hand-offs and waiting tones, Rutan then approached Shircliff again.
Shircliff said that she was on hold when Marinoff’s supervisor called Rutan to inform him that the order had been completed and Fether’s name had been removed.
“They said, ‘He’s off the list, now leave us alone,’” Shircliff said.
As of 3:25 p.m. Friday, Oct. 2, Fether was no longer in the SORA database in any capacity.
The joint efforts of the Hillsdale County Prosecutor’s Office, Veterans’ Affairs Office and Lisznyai’s office made the final push in removing Fether from the SOR.
“Together, the agencies and Judge Lisznyai got him off the list,” Shircliff said.
“I did my homework with the military,” Shircliff said. “I did my homework with [Fether’s] platoon sergeant, who was there at the time this happened.”
Hassinger stressed the importance of cooperation between his office and Shircliff’s, with the VA taking point on the issue.
"Not only did I do it,” he said, “Renae did 100 times more than what I did. She talked to people who were there when [Fether] was there.”
The story doesn’t end there, though: Hassinger said that a lien with the FBI could still flag Fether’s name during any criminal investigation and trigger the entire series of events again. But Shircliff said that her office is pursuing the case all the way to the top.
“Believe me, I’m following up,” Shircliff said. “We’re trying to see what we can do to work it out with the Secretary of State, because he shouldn’t have been on the SORA list in the first place.” ..Source.. by Jason Dafnis
May 8, 2015
Woman whose drivers license falsely marked her as 'sexual predator' threatens to sue state
Assuming the reporter is accurate as to how this happened, then Floridians need to be more concerned because the setting is a MANUAL operation not verified by any computer cross checking with the state registry; MANUAL! Who is responsible for the programming of the State's computers?5-8-15 Florida:
CLERMONT — Tammy Lemasters wondered why a judge and bailiff raised eyebrows after looking at her drivers license when she went to a court hearing for a traffic ticket.
Lemasters, who had recently moved back to Clermont from West Virginia, was shocked to find in the bottom right corner of her newly issued license the words "Sexual Predator" in blue capital letters.
The mother of three teenagers had the license for a few days before realizing the error. When she found out, she started crying and was afraid to drive or do anything where she might have to show her license.
On Thursday, she threatened to sue the state Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles unless changes are made to make sure the same thing doesn't happen to anyone else.
"It's so embarrassing and shouldn't be something that should have happened," said Lemasters, 42. "They need to change."
She said she never thought to check for that when looking over her license at the DMV office.
"They asked me to check my name and address, and that's what I checked," Lemasters said. "The sexual-predator box is in the lower corner, and she had her finger there. I just took it and put it in my wallet. No one checks for 'sexual predator' on your license."
She and her fiancé tried going to Disney World about two weeks ago and were detained by employees after showing her ID for the Florida discount. She said the couple told employees the stamp was a mistake but were held in a room for about three hours while employees called authorities about it.
Lemasters, an Applebee's server, was also turned away at a Clermont hotel when trying to check in.
She returned to the DMV office Thursday to get a new license and was ecstatic to get the problem fixed.
"I'm so happy," Lemasters said. "Driving is so much more relaxing."
John Phillips, a Jacksonville attorney representing Lemasters, said the notation on his client's license was the result of a "Scarlet Letter" law signed in 2007 by Gov. Charlie Crist. The law requires sexual predators and offenders to have a distinctive mark on their licenses as a safety measure for the public.
"The DMV simply clicked 'sexual predator' instead of 'organ donor,'" Phillips said. "There aren't any warning screens once an employee clicks 'sexual predator,' and there should be."
He said the suit won't be filed if the agency agrees to make changes in the computer system to prevent future errors.
"This isn't about money at all," he said. "It's about preventing it from happening to others."
Mark O'Keefe, manager of the drivers-license office on U.S. Highway 27 south of State Road 50 in Lake County's largest city, said he talked to employees to make sure they're asking customers to check their licenses. He said he will issue new training for employees at the facility, which sees nearly 200 people daily.
O'Keefe said Lemasters called the office April 21, four days after the license was issued. She detailed the problem and received an apology and was told to return to fix the flub.
"Each customer is asked to check over their license to avoid errors like these," O'Keefe said. "We're just humans doing a human job, and we can make human mistakes."
John Lucas, a DMV spokesman in Tallahassee, said the agency has long-term plans to update drivers-license systems to prevent such problems, but in the meantime people need to make sure everything is OK before they leave the DMV.
Phillips said this wasn't the first time the mistake has happened. He said he has been contacted by three individuals over the past couple years with similar stories, including a blind man incorrectly marked as a sex offender in 2012 on his DMV-issued ID card after he moved from Louisiana to Jacksonville. The man died earlier this year "and didn't get the justice he deserved before passing away," the attorney said.
For Lemasters, the episode was a nightmare.
"No one thinks that something like this can happen," she said. ..Source.. by Christal Hayes
May 7, 2015
Woman: Florida License Mistakenly Labeled Me a Sex Offender
5-7-15 Florida:
A Florida woman who was issued a driver's license that mistakenly labeled her a sexual predator said Thursday that she plans to file a defamation lawsuit against a county tax collector's office.
Tammy Lemasters, 42, said she was denied service when trying to book a room at a hotel and has endured funny looks from cashiers when cashing checks because of the blue letters in the bottom-right corner of her license that say "SEXUAL PREDATOR."
"I was afraid to drive in my car. I was afraid of getting pulled over," said Lemasters, who works as a restaurant trainer and is the mother of three teenagers. "I was afraid of the kids being in the car."
She has already filed a notice of intent to sue the Lake County Tax Collector's office, near Orlando. The tax collector's office serves as an agent for the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles in issuing driver's licenses. She went to the tax collector's office Thursday, accompanied by her attorney and television cameras, to get a new driver's license almost three weeks after she first noticed the mistake.
The manager of the tax collector's office where Lemasters got her license attributed the mistake to human error.
"We said we fully understand the embarrassment she faced, but these are humans doing a human job," said Mark O'Keefe, the manager. "People make mistakes. When we find them, we move swiftly to correct them."
When drivers get new licenses, they are told by workers in the tax collectors' office to double-check that everything on the ID is accurate, O'Keefe said.
Lemasters called the tax collectors' office four days after discovering the mistake and was told to come back to the office right away so the problem could be fixed, he said.
"If you misspell 'Main Street' on a driver's license or put the wrong initial in the name, people are back in here in a half-hour, if not the next day, to have it corrected," O'Keefe said.
Both O'Keefe and Lemasters' attorney theorize that the mistake was made when the wrong drop-down box was checked on the computer. The motor vehicle agency software is being updated and one of the changes being proposed includes adding a "pop-up" window that would ask workers issuing the licenses whether they are sure when they are clicking "sexual predator."
Lemasters said she didn't notice the mistake until several days after getting the new license. She had to go to traffic court for a ticket and noticed the judge and bailiff studying the license quizzically. Afterward, while she was at a store, she noticed the 'SEXUAL PREDATOR" label on her license and "I immediately had tears in my eyes."
Her attorney, John Phillips, said he knew of two similar instances in Florida, including a Jacksonville case in which he represented a legally blind man who had sued the Duval County Tax Collector's Office.
"It reminds me of 'The Scarlet Letter,'" said Phillips, referring to the 19th century literature classic about a woman ostracized for having a child out of wedlock in Puritan Massachusetts. "This is the worst thing you can call a person." by Mike Schneider
February 13, 2015
Blue Grass woman finds her own address on sex offender registry, used without her knowledge
2-13-15 Iowa:
We hear about the sex offender registry when there is a change in the law or a big compliance check. But does it really hold offenders accountable? A Blue Grass woman says, not as much as you might expect. And her story hits close to home.
She lives in an established neighborhood with nice houses fronted by big yards. You wouldn’t think a sex offender lived there. And as far as we know, one doesn’t. But for a little while this winter, Stefanie Mucha’s Valley View Drive house was listed on the sex offender registry. “It’s been devastating,” she says, telling us it’s affected her personally and professionally.
Mucha trains dogs for a living. “Especially with bully breeds,” she tells us, “There’s a baseline of trust and it is a very tight knit community.” So when she saw a Facebook post from a fellow dog rescuer, saying she was stranded at a local Walmart, Mucha says she reached out to the woman and her husband and son. “So for one night, I offered a shower, hot meal and that was about it.” She didn’t know the son, Troy Deroin, was a convicted sex offender. Or that he’d used her address to register.
Scott County Sheriff’s Officers say they didn’t know either, until weeks later. Detective Thomas Leonard tells us, “I got a phone call from family member in the southern United States. I believe it was from Georgia.” He followed up on the complaint. And while the Blue Grass house is legal under the 2-Thousand Foot Rule, the fact that Deroin did not report Mucha lives there, is not.
And it’s a fact Leonard says, without that phone call, might not have been discovered for months. His agency, along with others, does a big Sex Offender Sweep once a year. “In October, we make for sure that they’re there. And then throughout the year, there’s random checks that we do, but we may not find it until that point.” He says it’s a manpower issue. There are a half dozen detectives in his bureau and 353 registered sex offenders living in Scott County.
“Most of these sex offenders are compliant,” he says. “There is a small, less than 10% of them are the ones you really have to watch after.” But his teams can’t always do that. Instead he says, officers count on those convicted of crimes to tell the truth, and count on our community to help police sex offenders. “I don’t get how they take them at their word,” Mucha says. She says more needs to be done, not only for herself as she moves forward, but also for other families in the future.
Detective Leonard tells us a warrant has been issued for Troy Deroin. Officers believe he is in Texas, but they do not have an address for him. He is not listed on that state’s sex offender registry. ..Source.. by Elizabeth Goodsitt
November 22, 2014
Mistaken identity leads to jail time
2-24-2007 Wisconsin:
Man released after being confused with illegal immigrant, sex offender
Heriberto Tirado is the first to admit he's no saint.
But he's also not an illegal immigrant or a convicted child molester.
The 49-year-old Cudahy man spent six nights in jail this month on suspicion of both, in what has turned out to be a bizarre case of mistaken identity involving a twice-deported Mexican national.
Federal agents resolved the confusion this week. And the Milwaukee County Sheriff's Department said it's taking steps to make sure the error isn't repeated.
But Tirado's family is skeptical. And Tirado filed a notice of claim Friday against the county and the Sheriff's Department seeking compensatory damages of $25,000.
"This is going to happen again and again," said Anna Sanchez, Tirado's longtime companion, who contends he's been trying for years to get the Social Security Administration to address his claims of a stolen identity. "Every time this person does something, they're going to come after him."
"This person" is Heriberto Matias - or Miguel Rodriguez, or Juan Zayas, or any one of the 25 aliases he's used over the years, according to John Nienhardt, a special agent in the Milwaukee office of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Matias, who authorities say has used Tirado's birth date, address and Social Security number, has a 1997 conviction for second-degree sexual assault of a child. He served two years in a federal prison for re-entering the country after deportation and was sent back to Mexico in June 2004, Nienhardt said.
Tirado, a U.S. citizen born in Puerto Rico, has had his own troubles with the law, including a 2003 conviction for drug trafficking.
"But I'm not a child molester," Tirado said from his Cudahy home.
County sheriff's detectives arrested Tirado on Feb. 14 at the federal courthouse after he had been summoned by the Social Security Administration for what he thought was a resolution of a claim. He was directed from there to the courthouse, where he was handcuffed by detectives.
Tirado was arrested on four outstanding warrants - three involving municipal traffic tickets, and the fourth, against Matias, for failing to register as a sex offender.
News that Matias was arrested triggered an immigration hold that would have led to his deportation, a prospect that terrified Tirado's family.
"How can they do that if he's from Puerto Rico?" said Sanchez's daughter Denise Calaff-Garcia, as the family frantically tried to win his release. "We are legal citizens of the United States."
Part of the problem, Sheriff's Department spokeswoman Kim Brooks said, was that Tirado has used the name Matias in past encounters with police. When the jail ran his prints, she said, they matched his own in the system and listed Matias as an alias.
Tirado denies using Matias, part of his family name, in the more than 20 years he's lived in the Milwaukee area.
Nienhardt said it was quickly apparent to agents that Tirado might not be their man. For starters, he claimed to be Puerto Rican, not Mexican. Tirado was missing Matias' distinctive tattoos, and their criminal histories didn't match, he said.
"We ran his fingerprints, and the FBI numbers were not the same, so we released him," Nienhardt said.
Brooks said the Sheriff's Department could have cleared Tirado earlier if it had the same information. Both the warrant and immigration hold documents included just basic data about Matias, and neither listed his FBI number, she said.
A Milwaukee County Circuit Court commissioner dismissed the charge against Tirado on Thursday.
Now Tirado said he just he wants to get back to work. He learned Friday that he will keep his job assembling wheels for airplanes. The company needed corporate approval because the jail stint caused him to miss more than the approved three days of work.
"That is a relief," Tirado said Friday. "I have three children, and they are relying on me." ..Source.. by Annysa Johnson
Robert Haro Malicious Mistaken Identity
1-11-2004 Oregon:
With the stroke of her pen, Deschutes County, Oregon Deputy District Attorney Sarah Foreman lied to the Court and signed a false affidavit under oath and penalty of perjury, swearing that she had “...read the police reports...and based thereon...[had] reason to believe that [Robert Haro had] committed the crime of...failure to register as a sex offender.” Based upon Sarah Foreman’s sworn affidavit, a judge signed the warrant submitted by the prosecutor, and an innocent Robert Angel Haro was arrested and handcuffed in front of his wife and child at his home in Bend, Oregon, for crimes which his father, Roberto Haro, had committed. Robert and other family members had already been shamed, traumatized, and victimized by his father's criminal misconduct and the prosecutor’s blatant disregard of the facts lead to a new round of pain and suffering.
Robert Haro protested to the police that if only they would check the records they had available, it would be obvious a mistake was being made. This did not save him from being arrested and taken to jail, strip searched, finger-printed and booked for a crime he did not commit. Police explained they had to assume the warrant was valid - it had his name on it.
The false arrest set in motion a cascading sequence of events which resulted in Robert Haro being jailed, publically shamed, immediately fired from his job where he had just received a promotion, his name being listed in the newspaper as a sexual offender, and being denied housing for his family, because the prosecutor's false affidavit and criminal charges had created a false criminal record profile, labeling Robert as a registered sex offender.
After Robert Haro hired an attorney who immediately contacted the court and prosecutor and filed a motion to dismiss the false charges, the prosecutor took more than two weeks to dismiss the false charges, which required Robert to pay an attorney for two court appearances.
Prosecutors took no steps to remove the false criminal history which they created. Robert and his family were left destitute, unable to find employment for over a year. Each time Robert applied for a job, he was usually granted a subsequent interview, and an indication of intent to hire, only to be denied upon a record check, even though the record stated the charge was dismissed due to error. Record searches for prospective employers either did not find or comprehend the dismissal. His family struggled to survive, and were finally forced into bankruptcy. Robert was humiliated and devastated by the circumstances which made it impossible to take care of his family. By contrast, even after Robert found a pro-bono civil rights attorney and filed a civil rights law suit, the prosecutor was promoted, being hired by the Oregon Attorney General's Office (AG's), who also provided Foreman with an attorney at public expense.
Had the prosecutor cared about the impact on persons falsely accused of crimes or had she actually read the police report, she would have seen that the officer stated in pertinent part: “I had been attempting to locate Roberto Haro for failing to register since December 2004...Robert Haro is the son of Roberto...I called Robert (he) told me in substance that Roberto is living in an RV on the beach in Ensenada, Mexico under the alias of Saldana...Roberto Haro has two outstanding warrants for his arrest...parole violation and sex abuse...This report is being forwarded to the Deschutes County District Attorney's office for consideration of charging Roberto Haro with the above listed failure to register charges.” The only mention of the son Robert in the report was that Robert Angel Haro had assisted the detective with the Mexico address. The report included a photo of the offender with a birth date listed as 6/15/1949. Ironically, prosecutor Sarah Foreman had full information regarding Roberto Haro's convictions as they had all occurred in her office.
Just three months earlier Foreman had signed an almost identical affidavit attesting to the Circuit Court Judge that she had reviewed the same Gallino police report, “a copy of which I attached hereto and incorporate by reference herein...Based on the above, I have reason to believe, and do believe that defendant Roberto Haro, DOB 6/15/1949 has committed the crime of – FAILURE TO REGISTER AS A SEX OFFENDER.”
Prosecutor Foreman not only failed to ever apologize to Robert Angel Haro for the false arrest and trauma caused by her false statements to the court, but would later, with the assistance of her free, tax payer funded attorney from the AG's office, compound the false statements to the Circuit Court and Oregon Court of Appeals with both attorneys falsely asserting by affidavit, as an excuse, that Roberto Haro had an alias of Robert Haro.
Foreman's defense attorney from the AG's office also falsely represented to the courts that Foreman had not been personally served and he misrepresented the Federal case law. These additional false statements to the Oregon courts, further demonstrates the willingness of government attorneys to disregard truth and argue whatever they hope will win.
Prosecutors in this case and in general are working hard to attempt to convince the courts that all prosecutorial misconduct, even if criminal, should continue to enjoy the protection of “absolute immunity.”
Making a false representation to the courts on oath or affidavit is a crime. Ironically, a citizen or even a non-government attorney nvolved in false statements to the courts, tampering with evidence or witnesses is quickly charged with crimes to preserve the“authority,” “sanctity,” and “dignity” of the court and judicial process; while in stark contrast, the very prosecutors who swear an oath to protect the Constitution and the “sanctity”of the courts are granted immunity, and are not accountable for their crimes against citizens, the courts, and the Constitution.
Even prosecutors who commit crimes by intentionally withholding or creating false or perjured evidence are granted immunity for the very criminal conduct for which they have the exclusive power and duty to prosecute others. In fact prosecutors are granted the exclusive privilege of determining who will be charged with a crime. Frankly, not only is it difficult to conceive of a more illogical and hypocritical policy, but it is also impossible to conceive of a policy which would be more destructive to public confidence in the integrity of the judicial system, than that of placing those sworn to protect constitutional protections, above the law. Often the court rationalizes prosecutorial misconduct and avoids dealing with the problem of the judge who works with the prosecutors, confronting, supervising, or questioning the conduct of prosecutors.
The courts solution is to adopt a presumption that as “officers of the court” prosecutors either meant well, or that they inadvertently made a mistake while zealously pursuing the difficult duty of prosecuting crime – for this purpose the courts have protected prosecutors under the judicially created umbrella called “absolute prosecutorial immunity.” The rationale for granting prosecutors absolute immunity for their crimes is based upon the fiction that without absolute immunity prosecutors would be hampered in zealously prosecuting crime. To the contrary, history has shown that this policy has created a culture, exhibited in thousands of documented cases, where prosecutors are permitted to zealously obtain a conviction of even persons known to be innocent, by utilizing criminal conduct such as withholding evidence, creating false evidence, failing to disclose or test exculpatory evidence, and by intimidating witnesses with threats of prosecution or promises of immunity.
Tolerating such misconduct undermines both the integrity of the judicial system and the very foundation of the principles of justice guaranteed by our Constitution. The courts continued condoning of prosecutorial misconduct through its grant of “absolute immunity,” and refusal to hold prosecutors accountable, gives the public a strong message that the courts are not interested in meeting their constitutional obligation to provide equal justice and to protect citizens from a now corrupt government, taken captive by the rich and privileged. By failing to hold corrupt government officials accountable for constitutional violations, courts are perceived by citizens as just a partner of an elitist, morally bankrupt and corrupt shell of our once constitutionally principled government. These perceptions of government are quickly becoming self-evident.
If the courts fail to act quickly, the public confidence in our government will soon be so eroded that our government will be in peril of collapse from within. Then the beautiful, universal principles of our Constitution, so brilliantly conceived and hard won by our founding fathers will hang in the balance as if by a thread, because few citizens have read the Constitution and fewer yet understand its principles. Then the Constitution will not be judged on its own merit, but rather perceived as an obsolete, outdated, and badly flawed document; an ill-conceived dream for freedom created by our founding fathers, which established the blue print which permitted the rich and privileged to capture the government, its institutions, and financial resources, and to enslave and condemn the general public to the eternal financial bondage of funding the rich and privileged's insatiable greed.
The purpose espoused by our founding fathers was to create a constitutional separation of power, of checks and balances, to empower the citizens to prevent kings, despots, and the rich, or privileged from taking control of government institutions and financial resources, under the false pretense of serving the general public interest. Unfortunately, the courts have exhibited a history of tolerating prosecutorial misconduct, providing absolute immunity for even criminal conduct of prosecutors, that strikes at the very heart of the constitutional promise of due process and fundamental justice. Both the Oregon Constitution and the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution provide that all citizens shall enjoy equal treatment and immunities under the law.
In the Haro case The Oregon Court of Appeals recently affirmed without opinion that the prosecutor is entitled to “absolute immunity.” To reach that opinion, the Justices of The Oregon Court of Appeals apparently ignored the case precedent from the United State Supreme Court and 9th Circuit Court of Appeals which hold that a prosecutor in not entitled to absolute immunity, “for her act in giving sworn testimony as a witness,” which is not a prosecutorial function. Milstein v. Cooley, 257 F acting as a 3rd 1004 (9th Cir. 2001). Prosecutors are not entitled to absolute immunity when, “acting as a complaining witness in support of a warrant application.” Al-Kidd v. Ashcroft, 580 F3rd 949 (9th Cir 2009), citing Kalina, v.Fletcher, 522 US 118 (1997), In Kalina at 120-21 the United States Supreme Court specifically denied immunity to a prosecutor who filed the equivalent of an affidavit in support of a motion for an arrest warrant.
The US~Observer has taken on this case as part of our effort to hold the courts accountable. Presently a Petition For Review has been filed in the Oregon Supreme Court. The question is whether the Supreme Court of Oregon will also deny hearing the case or otherwise attempt to bury any case which asserts that the US Constitution does not permit prosecutorial misconduct to be accorded absolute immunity. The next step will be an appeal to the Federal 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. If the 9th Circuit refuses to serve justice, this case will go directly to the Supreme Court of the United States.
These cases are important in order to protect our individual liberties which can only be obtained if we as citizens join together to hold the courts and government accountable. We desperately need your support, help, and financial contributions in this effort.
We also have the Berg and Driscoll cases which will soon be filled in Federal Court. Be responsible and assist us, before you become a victim of our dangerous and totally out of control “justice system.” ..Source.. by Edward Snook, Investigative Journalist
Templeton sex offender acquitted of annoying girls
6-4-2010 California:
Man allegedly annoyed girls, but witnesses say it wasn’t him; he faces further charge involving threat in court
A case of mistaken identity resulted in the recent acquittal of a 50-year-old Templeton sex offender accused of annoying underage girls.
The defendant, Billy Gene Mannon, and his lawyer say an announcement authorities issued in March warning about his loitering near a route taken by the Templeton High School girls cross country team contributed to unfair public attention.
But authorities say they had reason to suspect Mannon and to consider him a dangerous person, citing his 1986 sex-crime conviction.
In an interview Friday at San Luis Obispo County Jail, where he remained after what prosecutors said was a threatening outburst during his trial, Mannon said that he wasn’t at Templeton Market and Deli on March 15 at the time underage girls said he stared at them and called one of them “pretty.”
At the conclusion of the five-day trial, a jury on May 28 found Mannon not guilty of annoying the girls.
“The system was broken from day one,” Mannon said. “Everything went wrong.”
Chief Deputy Jerret Gran of the District Attorney’s Office wouldn’t comment on details, but said “while we disagree, we respect the decision and deliberative process of the jury.”
The trial
Mannon said he told investigators he was at the Templeton Market earlier in the day — but not at the time alleged.
Mannon was accused of telling the girl that he was staring at her because she was “pretty” after she confronted a man at the restaurant, Mannon’s lawyer said.
But defense attorney Pierre Blahnik said two adult witnesses testified during the trial that Mannon wasn’t the same man the girl spoke to that day. A much older man acted surprised by the teen’s allegation, the witnesses said.
“The man clearly wasn't my client, and it's doubtful a crime occurred, Blahnik said. After 35 minutes of deliberation, the 12-person jury found Mannon not guilty of annoying or molesting a child.
The investigation
On March 10, Mannon was stopped at Moss Lane and El Pomar Road in Templeton by sheriff’s Deputy Jonathan Franklin, according to court records.
Franklin wrote in a search warrant that Mannon possessed 0.6 grams of methamphetamine, more than 300 pornographic images on his cellular phone of suspected underage girls, and binoculars.
Females often frequented the road for walking and running, and “Templeton High School students also run and exercise there, Franklin wrote in the warrant.
Mannon later pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor drug possession charge. Authorities determined the images on the cell phone were of women, not underage girls.
“It’s a beautiful spot,” Mannon said about visiting Moss Lane. In the interview, he denied going there to look at women passing by. He said he carries binoculars for nature excursions.
The incident at the deli took place March 15 about 3:15 p.m., according to a sheriff’s report, and Mannon said he was having a tire repaired in Paso Robles at the time.
The alleged crime of annoying the girl at the deli was reported at 9 p.m. on March 16 — more than 24 hours after the incident, according to a sheriff’s report.
That happened to be the same day the Sheriff’s Department created a flier notifying the public that Mannon, a registered sex offender, had been loitering in an area frequented by the Templeton girls cross country team. The flier noted “Mr. Mannon is not wanted for any crime at this time.”
Detectives then created a photo lineup for the underage girls to review, and they identified Mannon as the man who had stared at them at the deli, Blahnik said. Mannon was arrested March 17.
As for the other older man who apparently spoke to the girls, the authorities do not know his identity, Blahnik said.
The aftermath
Mannon now faces a charge of making criminal threats against a prosecutor at a court hearing. He remains in custody at County Jail in lieu of $100,000 bail.
At an April 7 hearing during his annoyance case, Mannon allegedly said, “Can we just get this thing done? If I ever find this dude, I’m going to put a rope around this dude’s neck,” referring to prosecutor Greg Devitt.
Mannon was reacting to an admitted law enforcement mistake in his case, Blahnik said. Blahnik now argues Mannon’s alleged comments weren’t meant to be threatening.
Sheriff’s investigators initially believed Mannon’s 1986 conviction in Lancaster of forced oral copulation was against a child under 14.
But prosecutors changed the annoyance charge before trial from a felony to a misdemeanor after checking with the state’s Department of Justice to confirm the victim in that earlier case was an adult.
Mannon said that he knew about the mistake in the registration and that he’d been trying to correct his status with authorities for years.
He has a hearing set for Monday and is hoping to be released from jail. He believes much of his legal trouble has been caused by his sex offender status.
He’ll appear in Judge Teresa Estrada-Mullaney’s court on a motion to disqualify the case, according to court officials. ..Source.. by Nick Wilson
Man awarded $890K after condo association mistakenly identifies him as sex offender
12-23-2013 Wisconsin:
SANTEE, SC (WIS) - A South Carolina man has been awarded $890,000 in a defamation of character lawsuit because his condominium association mistakenly identified him as a sex offender.
"It was humiliating, embarrassing, disgusting," said James King. "Living in a small town I wanted to protect my name."
Three years ago, King owned two units at Lenora's Santee Resort Inn just off I-95. He thinks it started because of a dispute with the board of directors over the fact he was about $200 behind on association fees.
"I don't think that gives anybody any reason to do what they did," said King.
King said those board members started going around the complex with fliers with the picture of William James King, Jr., a sex offender. The problem is, the photo was of a different William James King, Jr.
"After I'd heard it from the fourth or fifth person, and after I heard it from my friend at the bank..." said King.
Word of the flier made it's way to King's loan officer. At that point, he called attorneys Jason Daigle and Shaun Kent.
"The defendants claimed they weren't telling people this was Jamie King, but asking people if it was Jamie King. We had fact witnesses whose testimony ran exactly counter to that," said Daigle.
"It wasn't an investigation," said Kent. "It was a witch hunt. They weren't going to listen to what anyone said."
"These people can learn a lesson, and realize they can't go around calling people what they want to," King said. "It's unfair, it's disgusting and it can really hurt someone."
King said he is happy that this is mostly behind them, as for the money he says he will be using it to send his daughters to college and buy a new house.
Defense attorneys have until today to file post-trial motions, including an appeals. ..Source.. by WISTV.com
When the Only Crime Is Having a Common Name
7-23-2013 Illinois:
Samuel M. Jackson, of the Chicago area, already has it rough it enough when it comes to name recognition.
But comparisons with the same-named famous actor likely sounded wonderful to him after three other Samuel Jacksons got mixed up into his criminal background report. They're Samuel Jacksons all convicted of sex offenses; two of whom are currently in prison.
"He had a background check company that ran a background report that was grossly inaccurate. Almost laughably so if it wasn’t so outrageous," said attorney Chris Wilmes, who represented the job-seeking Jackson in a lawsuit against the background check company InfoTrack. "He had a background check report that suggested he was a serious, serious sex offender and that he had committed crimes that merited life in prison."
Wilmes said his client has no criminal record. His only fault? Having a common name.
"People with common names -- there is a significant risk that they’re going to get a background check that has nothing to do with them that shows a criminal record that doesn’t exist. And it is going to harm them when they are trying to get employment," according to Paul Strauss of the Chicago Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights, who also worked on the case against InfoTrack.
Samuel M. Jackson, the job-seeker, is white and was 26 years old when the background report was performed. The three Samuel Jacksons whose reports were attached to his name were all decades older, African American convicted sex offenders, two of whom were currently in prison. One of them is incarcerated for a rape that occurred when the job-seeking Jackson was only four years old.
"He was outraged that a background check company would be that sloppy with something that important," Wilmes said of his client.
InfoTrack did not return calls for comment by publication time, but did settle the lawsuit with the job-seeking Samuel M. Jackson. InfoTrack settled for $35,000 and corrected Jackson’s record.
But another example has no such happy ending yet in sight.
In Milwaukee, 29-year-old Dennis Teague has a 13-page criminal background report, riddled with gun and drug offenses. But Dennis Teague has never been arrested and has no criminal record.
"Dennis has done nothing wrong. He’s done absolutely, positively nothing wrong," said his lawyer, Jeff Myer of Legal Action of Wisconsin.
So why does Teague have the record of a career criminal? It goes back at least seven years, when a second cousin who was wanted by law enforcement used Dennis’ name when stopped by police.
"I didn’t do anything wrong, and that’s what I don’t understand right now today. It’s not me, I’m not a felon," Teague says.
Teague, who has a college degree, says the name-based background report delivered to prospective employers by the state of Wisconsin is standing in the way of his employment. He says scores of interviews that seemed promising went nowhere, which didn’t make sense until he says he discovered the misleading records blended with his report.
Teague says he feels like a lifetime of making the right choices is being tossed out with the state’s refusal to disseminate his actual record, which should be "no record."
"I feel like I’m just thrown out. For one, you’ve got to think about: no employer has the time to read 13 pages. So, they probably won’t know to look and say, ‘This is identity theft. Somebody stole his name,'" he explained.
“It’s just wrong for the government to be lying about their citizens," said attorney Myer. "There's no question that an African American male of Dennis' age who is looking for work, is seriously impacted when a criminal background check comes back and says anything other than "no record," and that's what Dennis is entitled to."
Teague is suing the state Department of Justice, asking that it change the way background information is disseminated, especially in the case of identity theft victims.
Wisconsin DoJ did not respond directly to NBC Chicago’s questions, but in court filings has said its system is based on the interests of law enforcement. If a citizen like Teague is impersonated by a criminal, who uses the clean name for an alias, police investigating a case may need to know that. It appears the state does not have a mechanism to produce one report for prospective employers, with a separate one for law enforcement.
In Illinois, an identity theft victim does have a mechanism that severs the thief’s record from his or hers. It is called the Criminal Identification Act.
Wisconsin did offer Teague a letter that confirms his identity is separate from that of his second cousin's, and that he has no criminal record. Teague said he can’t get far enough in an interview process to get much use of the letter.
"[Employers] don’t want to hear that. A lot of employees say, ’Oh , that wasn’t me, somebody used my name.’ They probably hear that all the time.. But with me, it’s the truth," said Teague.
Experts say these kind of incidents point to the need for all consumers to read their own background reports. Federal law requires notification if a job-seeker is denied employment based on a negative background report, but industry observers point out it is often impossible to know if that happens as required.
Consumer rights are laid out in the Fair Credit Reporting Act , but many job-seekers have no idea to what they are entitled if a company orders a background report on them.
The Privacy Rights Clearinghouse publishes a “Jobseeker’s Guide” that lays out frequently asked questions about employment background checks.
An industry group that represents some background check companies also answers frequently asked questions on the topic on its website. ..Source.. by Lisa Parker
Sunnyvale: Trespass charge dropped against sex offender
3-11-2014 California:
SUNNYVALE -- Citing a case of mistaken identity, prosecutors dropped charges against a registered sex offender from San Jose who was accused of illegally trespassing on school property.
Theodore Lorigo, 42, was arrested on Jan. 23 based on tips from Los Gatos police that he had walked onto the Sunnyvale Hebrew Day School campus a month before. He was identified by school employees after watching surveillance video.
However, Deputy District Attorney Rebekah Wise said on Monday that after further review, the trespassing charge was dismissed.
"We did follow up and determined he was not the person who was on campus," Wise said.
She said they had sufficient evidence to make the initial arrest, including Lorigo being picked out of a photo lineup. But he was ruled out after "we later covered additional avenues."
Lorigo, who also goes by Francine and Francis and dresses as a woman, pleaded guilty to having a forged identification and was sentenced to time served.
According to the Megan's Law website, Lorigo was convicted of "kidnapping a child under the age of 14 years old with intent to commit lewd or lascivious acts."
In 1994, Lorigo was charged with luring a 9-year-old girl into his car after offering to sell her a dog he was walking. The girl got out of the car when it stopped and ran away. Two other girls said they had also been approached by a man driving a matching car who asked them to help find his lost puppy. ..Source.. by Eric Kurhi
Merrill Lynch manager became janitor after mistaken ID in child sex probe
6-3-2014 New York:
A Long Island man says he went from being a Merrill Lynch manager to a shattered school janitor after the feds — in a terrible case of mistaken identity — arrested him at work and threatened to ship him off to Mexico to face charges that he had sex with minors.
Philip Simone, a married dad from New Hyde Park, is suing the government in Brooklyn federal court for $2.75 million, claiming his life went to pot after they wrongly busted him for being a child molester.
“They told me they had a warrant for my arrest in Mexico,” Simone, 57, testified at his civil trial Monday.
“I said, ‘You have the wrong guy. I’m just a family guy. ’ ”
Simone said he first learned he was a victim of mistaken identity when federal marshals approached him at his Merrill Lynch desk in May 2008.
They escorted him to a security room, then dropped their bombshell, he said.
“They told me they had a warrant for my arrest in Mexico,” he recalled. “That’s when the room started to spin.
“They told me they were going to put me on a plane right there. I have never been more scared in my life.”
Simone — who worked in the settlement division at Merrill Lynch’s Garden City office for 28 years — had the same name as a man sought by Mexican officials for paying for sex with minors in that country.
An ambassador sent an official request to then-Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to arrest the wrong Simone — and even supplied his home address and a copy of his driver’s license, the suit states.
After being placed in handcuffs and leg shackles, the bewildered dad — with no arrest history — told agents that he wasn’t the man they were looking for.
Federal prosecutors let Simone out on bail with a warning.
“They told me I had a week to prove my innocence,” he said.
Simone desperately searched for paperwork that could prove he wasn’t in Mexico during the time of the child abuse. His son eventually found evidence online of another Philip Simone in New Jersey — a registered sex offender and the real target of the Mexican probe.
Prosecutors dropped their case four days after his wrongful arrest. He eventually returned to his job at Merrill Lynch after being cleared, but was laid off in 2009 as part of a downsizing.
After going on unemployment, Simone took a school custodian job in Queens.
Simone said he suffers everything from depression to lessened sex drive because of the incident.
But Assistant US Attorney Vincent Lipari, in his opening statement, suggested that Simone was greatly exaggerating his plight to score a payday.
Lipari also stressed that Simone spent a total of only four hours in custody and that his case was dropped in a matter of days. ..Source.. by Selim Algar
The 'other' Carlos Molina isn't too thrilled about frequent cases of mistaken identity
4-30-2014 Nevada:
LAS VEGAS -- Carlos Molina, who will fight Adrien Broner on Saturday in a super lighweight bout at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, never used to get allthat upset about being mistaken for another boxer who fights as a super welterweight with the same name.
That boxer, whose name is Carlos A. Molina, won the IBF junior middleweight world title by beating Ishe Smith last year in Las Vegas.
"I didn't mind too much when he was a world champion and people were confusing me for him," the Molina who is fighting Broner said.
He doesn't like the mistakes so much now, however. In March, only days before a planned title defense against Jermell Charlo, Carlos A. Molina was arrested on charges he failed to register as a sex offender. Then, he was detained by the U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement when it alleged he was in the country illegally. Carlos A. Molina remains in custody.
The Molina who is fighting Broner does not have a middle initial. But he got a lot of unwanted attention when Carlos A. Molina was arrested. Carlos Molina's photo was included on a story in the Los Angeles Times about Carlos A. Molina's arrest. HBO's Jim Lampley mistook the two when he said on his show, "The Fight Game," that Broner would be fighting a guy who had recently been arrested. Clearly, that's not the case.
When he saw and heard that, he didn't think the comparisons were so good, or so funny. Occasionally, his family would hear about Carlos A. Molina having a fight lined up and think it was him. That was funny. But he wanted no part of any criminal case.
"Hey man, he was arrested for sexual assault, or whatever that was," Molina said. "That's not me. Don't mess that up."
So to be clear: Carlos Molina of Commerce, Calif., is 28 years old and is 17-1-1 and is the man who is fighting Broner Saturday at the MGM Grand. Carlos A. Molina is 30 years old, is from Chicago and is a junior middleweight with a record of 22-5-2 with six knockouts. ..Source.. by Kevin Iole
Angry mob in Denver attacks man thought to be sexual predator
5-20-2013 Colorado:
DENVER – Residents angry that police had not warned them about sex assaults of children took matters into their own hands, chasing down a man they thought was the attacker, pelting him with rocks and leaving him with a bloody face in Colorado, authorities said Monday.
Pueblo police later released the man because of lack of evidence, The Pueblo Chieftain reported.
Neighborhood residents were looking for a man suspected of two separate sexual acts when they got word that a man matching the description had been spotted, said Alex Pacheco, one of the pursuers.
The group confronted the man and he ran.
Pursuers surrounded him and punched him in the face, police Capt. Tom Rummel said. Arriving officers shoved the man into a police car and whisked him to the station for questioning. He was not seriously injured.
"The primary officer on the scene said get him out of here," Rummel said.
Pacheco told the newspaper that residents were canvassing the area looking for the man who committed the sex crimes during the past few months.
One incident involved the sexual assault of a girl in her home. In the other, authorities said a man with the same description exposed himself to another child.
Police said the mob grew to about a half-dozen people as residents learned of the chase and joined in.
"We went through the right channels in contacting the police but there hasn't been much response," Pacheco said. "We can't wait around any longer without doing something. These are children that this man is after and we can't let any more children get hurt by him."
Rummel said police had notified the media and posted warnings on social media about the attacks, but authorities are not required by law to notify residents because no one had been arrested.
Rummel said police only had a vague description of the suspect because he wore a bandanna over his face.
The 54-year-old man accosted by the mob did not want to file charges against his pursuers, the chief said.
"He said folks were reacting to a bad situation and he told the officer, `I don't want to go that route,"' Rummel said. "He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time."
The name of the man was not released because no charges were filed. He agreed to give investigators a DNA sample so he could be ruled out as a suspect. ..Source.. by Fox News
Exonerated man's name pulled from sex offender website
10-28-2013 Illinois:
llinois State Police removed Carl Chatman's name from the sex offender registry this morning, following notification that Chatman had been exonerated in an alleged 2002 rape at the Daley Center and, thus, should not have been on the website.
The mistaken entry was identified after Berwyn police arrested Chatman Sunday because he was listed on the site as an unregistered sex offender.
Russell Ainsworth, who represented Carl Chatman in his wrongful conviction case, said the Berwyn Police Department held Chatman for about two hours, until Ainsworth was able to get to the station and provide documents proving the conviction had been thrown out.
"He is not required to register as a sex offender because he is not a sex offender," Ainsworth said.
It was not immediately clear why Chatman's name showed up on the Illinois sex offender registry website.
The registry is maintained by the Illinois State Police. Spokeswoman Monique Bond said they removed his name after being notified of the error Sunday by Berwyn police.
Bond said individuals on the registry or their lawyers should notify state police of any updates that could allow their names to be removed.
"If someone believes they are mistakenly placed on the list, they would contact us or the registering agency," Bond said.
Berwyn Police Cmdr. Joe Santangelo said the arrest was made as part of a routine sex offender compliance check. He said he planned to review the arrest Monday but believed the situation involved a records glitch.
Chatman's sister, Theresa, said her brother and she were getting ready for church when Berwyn police officers knocked on her door a little before 8 a.m. Theresa Chatman, who spent years trying to prove her brother's innocence, said the police told her they were looking for Carl Chatman.
"When I opened the door, they busted past me and then walked through the home to the kitchen," Theresa Chatman said. "(My brother) just had on his pajama pants drinking his coffee, and they had him in handcuffs."
She said she tried to explain to the police that her brother's conviction had been vacated and that she had the paperwork to prove it, but they arrested him anyway.
Chatman, 58, was sentenced to 30 years in prison for an alleged May 2002 rape of a county employee at the Daley Center. But last month, Cook County prosecutors made the stunning announcement that they doubted the credibility of the woman who brought the allegations against Chatman and no longer believed the sexual assault even took place.
Chatman, who has been diagnosed with schizophrenia and has a low IQ, was released from prison Sept. 10 after 11 years in custody. Since that time, Chatman has been living with his sister and her daughter in west suburban Berwyn.
Sally Daly, a spokeswoman for the Cook County state's attorney's office, said Berwyn police contacted the office about Chatman's case after they arrested him Sunday.
The state's attorney's office told police that Chatman's conviction had been vacated and that he was not required to register as a sex offender, said Daly, who added that she did not know how Chatman's name ended up on the site. The state's attorney's office is not required to notify state police of exonerations, she said.
"He shouldn't have been on the (sex offender) website," Daly said.
Ainsworth said the Berwyn Police Department told him that Chatman had been caught up in a sex offender sweep because he showed up as unregistered.
Police released Chatman around 10 a.m. and notified all Berwyn police officers of the situation, Ainsworth said.
Theresa Chatman said that since her brother's release, they have been trying to adjust to his life at home and his medication schedule and that the arrest Sunday did not help.
"We didn't think that every time we turned around and opened our door, there were going to be police there," Theresa Chatman said. "I mean, come on, when is it going to be over?" ..Source.. by Cynthia Dizikes
Mistaken Identity Labels Innocent Man a Sex Offender
9-2-2010 Washington:
Dan Wheeler has been wrongly labeled a sex offender and it all happened after his wallet was stolen.
Cops say the thief, who actually is a registered sex offender, used Wheeler's name as an alias, and now the thief's crimes are mistakenly linked to Wheeler.
Wheeler says he had no idea the identity switch took place until a cop pulled him over near his home outside Seattle, Washington.
Wheeler said, "Next thing I know, he's listening to the radio and puts his hand on his gun and says, 'Put your hands on the car. You are under arrest.' I sayid, 'For what?' He said, 'We have a warrant for your arrest.' "
Wheeler proved it was a case of mistaken identity, but it didn't stop there.
"The judge says 'Cleared.' Great, but it's still on my record," says Wheeler.
So why can't Wheeler get the sex offender label and the other man's name removed from his record?
Washington State police tell INSIDE EDITION whenever a criminal uses an alias that name stays in the system permanently in case the crook uses that alias again.
Bob Calkins of the Washington State Patrol said, "If we didn't connect those in the record, that person could continue to use his name and continue to build a duplicate record that would be very difficult to differentiate from the real."
Amazingly, Wheeler has kept his sense of humor about the very unfunny situation, which may never go away.
"All I can do is laugh and shake my head and think, 'You know, I'm screwed for life,' " said Wheeler. ..Source.. by Inside Edition
Sex offender released from jail after case of 'mistaken identity'
9-27-2011 Oregon:
UPDATE: Police released a Springfield man from jail Wednesday night after police say he was misidentified in a alleged sex offense case outside an area elementary School.
Police said Randy Tompkins is not the man an eyewitness had originally reported seeing talking to young girls outside of Riverbend Elementary School.
Tompkins is a registered sex offender and was arrested Friday after the eyewitness found Tompkins' picture in the state's predatory sex offender registry.
Tompkins was released from jail on Monday after the district attorney's office elected not to file new charges while police investigated the report further.
Springfield police told KVAL they thought his release was 'not in the public's best interest' and rearrested him.
Police said the original eyewitness called to report that the wrong man was in jail and that Tompkins was not the man she saw outside of the elementary school.
After further investigation police determined that the man reportedly talking to children was actually an athletics coach who frequently talks to children at the school.
Police released Tompkins Wednesday night. They said he will not face charges related to the initial complaint and that this case is one of mistaken identity.
SPRINGFIELD, Ore. - A predatory sex offender arrested on suspicion of violating conditions of a sex abuse conviction has been released from jail after the district attorney's office elected not to file new charges against the man, according to police.
Police in Springfield arrested Randy Tompkins, 48, at his home on Friday after a concerned mother reported seeing him talking to children at Springfield Elementary School. The mother found the man in the state's predatory sex offender registry and called police.
Sgt. John Umenhofer said that Tompkins violated court orders stemming from past sex abuse convictions by talking to children. Tompkins, who abused both girls and boys, is not allowed to have contact with anyone under the age of 18, according to state records.
Police booked him into the Lane County Jail on an accusations of unlawful contact with a child and loitering in a place frequented by children.
Tompkins was released from Lane County Jail on Monday after prosecutors decided not to file formal charges, Umenhofer said.
The case remains an open investigation for the Springfield Police Department, he said. Umenhofer said parents should contact police if they see Tompkins around children in the future. ..Source.. by KVAL News
Child sex charges dropped against Willow Spring man
11-22-2014 North Carolina:
A Superior Court judge in Harnett County has dismissed child sex charges against a Willow Spring man accused this past summer of raping a child – accusations he says have destroyed his life.
Tommy Keith Wall was arrested June 24 on charges of first-degree rape of a child, first-degree sex offense against a child and felony conspiracy.
The charges were dropped Oct. 30, and Wall's name and personal information were removed from all court records. The reason, according to a dismissal statement obtained by WRAL News from Wall: "Further investigation revealed wrong person charged."
"I'm jobless, homeless, living with my mom, at 50 years old, just trying to put the pieces back together," Wall said Friday. "It's just been a train wreck. My life went from (having a reputation of) being a good person to being the worst person in the world. It was destroyed in 24 hours."
Wall said he sat in jail for weeks, confused; his hearings kept being postponed; and no one would give him much more information than the charges he faced.
"I had all the evidence proving that there was no way I could have done any of that," Wall said. "I'm more of a person that would help kids. I coached. I work with youth ministries, with prison ministries. It just didn't fit my lifestyle."
He had three attorneys before being assigned Fred Webb.
"We started digging into things that supported his side of the story," Webb said Friday.
What they found was that Wall was the victim of a case of mistaken identity that centered on video of a man who, like Wall, was also bald.
"The man had a bald head and a mole the size of a quarter on the top of his head," Wall said. "You know, that wasn't me."
"They had the wrong person," Webb, said. "Once the prosecution determined that's what occurred, they promptly issued a dismissal in the case."
Wall turned himself in to authorities within hours of investigators distributing video stills of him to the media that they found while investigating an alleged child pornography ring operated out of a Sanford day care. At least four people face charges in that case.
Wall has since lost his job of nearly 23 years and has been both financially and personally "devastated," Webb said.
Both blame investigators with the Harnett County Sheriff's Office, which declined to comment on the case Friday other than to say that they are still looking for the man they thought Wall to be.
Wall said he is considering legal action.
"The investigation should have been done a lot better," Webb said. "He has a big, big obstacle to overcome, because once you’ve been targeted and tainted with such a crime as this, it's going to follow you wherever you go." ..Source.. by Arielle Clay
