The California Supreme Court has recently ruled that a man who had been wrongfully imprisoned for 25 days could sue the state for false imprisonment and negligence.

The man was arrested for drunk driving but immigration and parole officials thought that they had another man who had previously been deported to Mexico several years earlier.

Amazingly, officials not only recognized that the detained man was five inches taller than the guy they thought he was, but they also noticed that his face didn’t match the picture on file. Despite these known differences, officials refused to verify the man’s identity by a fingerprint check. Even after pleading with officials and telling them that they had the wrong guy, the man was placed in jail for 25 days.

In Perez-Torres v. State of California, S137346, the court determined that the man could sue because Los Angeles County officials knew or should have known that they had detained the wrong person.

This case illustrates that if you have been wrongfully imprisoned and officials are negligent in confirming your identity, you can sue law enforcement.

For more information, call the criminal defense attorneys of Wallin & Klarich 24/7 at 1-888-280-6839. We have over 30 years of experience in helping people stay out of jail.