Clay County police arrest wrong person on theft charge, innocent woman jailed for weeks

A Louisiana woman was jailed twice – once for several weeks – when police arrested her by mistake. Police were looking for a woman with the same name, but the descriptions of the two were different – off by several years, five inches and 20 pounds, according to a report in the Florida Times-Union. Police did eventually arrest the correct woman on a Clay County Theft Charge, but not after public embarrassment and what could be some costly litigation for the county. This is the second time a person with the same name was wrongly arrested in Clay County. An 18-year-old spent a month in jail, accused of having sex with a girl younger than 12 when police were all along thinking he was a different teen with the same name.

In both cases, police went by the name alone and did not follow proper procedures in making sure they were arresting the correct person, the newspaper reported. The woman who was falsely arrested in this Clay County Theft Case said she lost her home and her daughter is now in counseling and saw her grades plummet because of her mother’s sudden absence, the newspaper reported. Police finally relented in the case when the woman’s Clay County Criminal Defense Attorney was able to provide medical records that showed the woman was in a hospital when the original theft occurred, the newspaper reported. The woman was also falsely arrested on a charge for passing a bad check and her attorneys say police did not show the bank manager a picture of the suspect, but rather arrested her solely based on the name. Police brought the woman from Louisiana to Clay County on the charge, even though the actual suspect was in Clay County the entire time, the newspaper reported.

Clearing one’s name from a false arrest can be very difficult to do. When potential employers conduct background checks, the information is pulled from a Florida Department of Law Enforcement database that shows when people are arrested. There is information in the report on the result of the charges, but it is not always up-to-date. Either way, many employers don’t even go a step further if they see someone was arrested for a Clay County Felony – especially a crime of dishonestly such as a Clay County Theft Case. The woman may be eliminated in a job placement process well before she would even have a chance to explain the situation that led to her arrest.

If you or a loved one needs a criminal defense attorney in Jacksonville or the surrounding area, call The Mussallem Law Firm at (904) 365-5200 for a FREE CONSULTATION. Our Clay County Theft Attorney, Victoria “Tori” Mussallem, is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.