AZ man spent 17 days in jail for crime he didn't commit. He blames American Airlines

[ck4829]

A man’s life was changed after he spent 17 days in a New Mexico jail because American Airlines wrongfully accused and identified him to police as a shoplifter at the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport, according to a lawsuit filed Monday.

Michael Lowe boarded a flight at DFW Airport in May 2020. More than a year later, he said, he was on vacation in New Mexico when he was arrested on warrants he had never heard of for a crime he did not commit.

For more than two weeks, Lowe was held in Quay County Jail at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in “grossly unsanitary conditions,” according to the lawsuit. Lowe said he didn’t even find out what he was charged with until after his release.

“I’ve never heard of this fact pattern in my life or my career,” said Lowe’s attorney, Scott Palmer. “If it can happen to him, it can happen to anyone.”

https://www.yahoo.com/news/man-sues-american-airlines-says-140000813.html

Seriously? What is wrong with this legal system?

[niyad]

1. You mean the best system that money can buy?

[exboyfil]

2. Never give your ID to cops without probable cause

They had no business running his name for warrants to begin with. It sounds like he was a probable witness to a crime not an involved party.

I know it hurts their investigations to deny ID, but seriously, why did they run warrants on this guy? Maybe he would have been arrested later on the bogus charge, but at least he would have been in trouble for something else first.

Talk about your failure to do your due diligence LEOs and American Airlines. You don't want to get as bad as Hertz Airlines.

[TheBlackAdder]

3. Texas, WTF is wrong with your rank police and judicial system? Held 2 weeks without knowing why?

[mahatmakanejeeves]

4. I just now saw that story. Thanks.

First of all you’ve got to follow CJ for criminal justice issues.

Second of all this story illustrates something insidious, something shameful, about the way we think about criminal justice in America. /1

Link to tweet

FORT WORTH

AZ man spent 17 days in jail for crime he didn’t commit. He blames American Airlines

BY KALEY JOHNSON UPDATED JUNE 07, 2022 11:57 AM

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[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

5. Several things

The police at DFW did not do their job of reviewing the surveillance footage and completing due diligence to convince a judge that the the person they sought was the very likely the person in the surveillance footage. Second, since the positive ID is required to buy a ticket and to pass tsa and board a flight, his information and address were available. Police should have contacted him at home to resolve the matter.

I think jail is almost never appropriate for a non-violent crime. I hope the theft involved something like a panerai watch and not a bag of chips.

Cops, prosecutors and a judge probably didn't do enough nor pay enough attention.