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My mother was arrested under a false name! Do we have a case?

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pepsichick

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Texas---
My mother was arrested for a 2nd degree felony, agg assault/deadly weapon in June. It was dropped/reduced to class A misdemeanor, assault. However, the arresting officer simply ran her name for priors, never even asking for her drivers license/ID. The problem, is that there just so happens to be another woman with the same first and last name in the same county. Their middle names/DOB are different from each others. The woman with the same name as my mothers had a prior misdemeanor in 1992. The officer arrested my mother under the OTHER woman's name, and the jail proceeded to book her under that name as well, and DID NOT fingerprint her. They felt no need to, since the arresting officer ran her name and it APPEARED that she was already in their system. She remained under the identity of this other woman for 23 days, before people started to listen when we told them that wasn't her middle name/DOB. THEN they scrambled to fix it, make "amendments", and then decided to fingerprint and REBOOK her under the proper identity. The mugshot on file for both women is a a picture of my mother. We have NUMEROUS documents showing that she was booked under a false name, as well as initial reports from the responding officers, and the list goes on. We have all the proof we'd need, in other words, if in the event the jail or police dept decided to "remove" anything in the "interest of justice".

If neither of us had said a word about it, theoretically, my mother wouldn't even have a criminal record. The OTHER woman would. What do we do, and do we have a case against the county, state, or arresting officer to get her record expunged/removed/sealed?

NOTE: We did locate the other woman, and advised her of the situation and that she now has a 2nd degree felony arrest (not conviction) on her record. I also made sure to give her copies of everything she should need to get the matter handled on her end. Last I saw, her record still showed the felony arrest, with no dispositions. This poor woman is 70 years old, suffers from Bi-Polar disorder, AND has Dementia. Now she has to deal with being a victim of our penal systems negligence and ignorance, as well as disregard for simple (but mandatory) procedure.
 


Ohiogal

Queen Bee
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Texas---
My mother was arrested for a 2nd degree felony, agg assault/deadly weapon in June. It was dropped/reduced to class A misdemeanor, assault. However, the arresting officer simply ran her name for priors, never even asking for her drivers license/ID. The problem, is that there just so happens to be another woman with the same first and last name in the same county. Their middle names/DOB are different from each others. The woman with the same name as my mothers had a prior misdemeanor in 1992. The officer arrested my mother under the OTHER woman's name, and the jail proceeded to book her under that name as well, and DID NOT fingerprint her. They felt no need to, since the arresting officer ran her name and it APPEARED that she was already in their system. She remained under the identity of this other woman for 23 days, before people started to listen when we told them that wasn't her middle name/DOB. THEN they scrambled to fix it, make "amendments", and then decided to fingerprint and REBOOK her under the proper identity. The mugshot on file for both women is a a picture of my mother. We have NUMEROUS documents showing that she was booked under a false name, as well as initial reports from the responding officers, and the list goes on. We have all the proof we'd need, in other words, if in the event the jail or police dept decided to "remove" anything in the "interest of justice".

If neither of us had said a word about it, theoretically, my mother wouldn't even have a criminal record. The OTHER woman would. What do we do, and do we have a case against the county, state, or arresting officer to get her record expunged/removed/sealed?

NOTE: We did locate the other woman, and advised her of the situation and that she now has a 2nd degree felony arrest (not conviction) on her record. I also made sure to give her copies of everything she should need to get the matter handled on her end. Last I saw, her record still showed the felony arrest, with no dispositions. This poor woman is 70 years old, suffers from Bi-Polar disorder, AND has Dementia. Now she has to deal with being a victim of our penal systems negligence and ignorance, as well as disregard for simple (but mandatory) procedure.
You have no case for anything.
 

pepsichick

Junior Member
You have no case for anything.
Out of curiosity, why the heck not? If it weren't for us saying something about their stupidity, my mother wouldn't even HAVE a record. The poor 70 year old woman would! And that's a terrible thing to even imagine happening. We aren't seeking compensation...we just want her record sealed, or something equal to that. And the officer who failed to follow procedure received no disciplinary actions whatsoever. And that in and of itself ought to be astonishing to even the SIMPLEST of people.
 

CdwJava

Senior Member
Ask yourself how YOU have been harmed, then review the question you asked whether "we" have a case.

If your mother is not guilty of the offenses for which she has been charged, she may be able to get the arrest purged from the system. If, however, she is guilty, then I am sure the state would be willing to correct the record to reflect your mother's name.

But YOU don't have any case nor cause to do anything.
 

justalayman

Senior Member
Out of curiosity, why the heck not? If it weren't for us saying something about their stupidity, my mother wouldn't even HAVE a record. The poor 70 year old woman would! And that's a terrible thing to even imagine happening. We aren't seeking compensation...we just want her record sealed, or something equal to that. And the officer who failed to follow procedure received no disciplinary actions whatsoever. And that in and of itself ought to be astonishing to even the SIMPLEST of people.
ok, let's go the other way:


just what do you believe your mother would have a case for? Had you not pushed things already, she wouldn't have even had a record but nooooo!!! you wanted the records to be correct so they corrected them. So, in effect you want them to remove a record you insisted they correct so it would accurately reflect your mother's criminal activity.




serously; a mistake was made. It was corrected. Your mother now can carry her conviction as she should.
 

dave33

Senior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Texas---
My mother was arrested for a 2nd degree felony, agg assault/deadly weapon in June. It was dropped/reduced to class A misdemeanor, assault. However, the arresting officer simply ran her name for priors, never even asking for her drivers license/ID. The problem, is that there just so happens to be another woman with the same first and last name in the same county. Their middle names/DOB are different from each others. The woman with the same name as my mothers had a prior misdemeanor in 1992. The officer arrested my mother under the OTHER woman's name, and the jail proceeded to book her under that name as well, and DID NOT fingerprint her. They felt no need to, since the arresting officer ran her name and it APPEARED that she was already in their system. She remained under the identity of this other woman for 23 days, before people started to listen when we told them that wasn't her middle name/DOB. THEN they scrambled to fix it, make "amendments", and then decided to fingerprint and REBOOK her under the proper identity. The mugshot on file for both women is a a picture of my mother. We have NUMEROUS documents showing that she was booked under a false name, as well as initial reports from the responding officers, and the list goes on. We have all the proof we'd need, in other words, if in the event the jail or police dept decided to "remove" anything in the "interest of justice".

If neither of us had said a word about it, theoretically, my mother wouldn't even have a criminal record. The OTHER woman would. What do we do, and do we have a case against the county, state, or arresting officer to get her record expunged/removed/sealed?

NOTE: We did locate the other woman, and advised her of the situation and that she now has a 2nd degree felony arrest (not conviction) on her record. I also made sure to give her copies of everything she should need to get the matter handled on her end. Last I saw, her record still showed the felony arrest, with no dispositions. This poor woman is 70 years old, suffers from Bi-Polar disorder, AND has Dementia. Now she has to deal with being a victim of our penal systems negligence and ignorance, as well as disregard for simple (but mandatory) procedure.

It could be she was charged differently or her bail situation was dealt with differently because of negligence and this being considered her 2nd offense. This may at least play a role in any plea negotiations. But, as it seems she may have already plead guilty, or it's equivalent in your county, that makes things more difficult. Basically impossible for any consideration.goodluck.
 

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