Originally published at: Innocent Black man, 23, spent week in jail after being mistaken for wanted white man, 49, with blue eyes and "bushy white beard" | Boing Boing
…
9 Likes
30 Likes
Cannot fucking get a break…ever. 
29 Likes
“This happens much more frequently then what the public hears about,” [Bryson] said. “It’s a result of either intentional or unintentional conduct by the officers.”
Exactly. Too many DGAF, and that’s intentional. Defund the police.
35 Likes
Bruh is about to get PAID! Good for him.
6 Likes
“It’s a result of either intentional or unintentional conduct by the officers.”
Well, yes, those are the two options. Though the modifier “bad” is missing for “conduct.” At which point the distinction between “intentional” and “unintentional” becomes a bit irrelevant.
I’m reminded of a case where a mentally disabled man with a similar name to an escaped prisoner got arrested, his own lawyer told him not to fight his “return” to prison, and he was in prison for a while before the “mistake” was recognized (I believe only when the actual escaped prisoner got apprehended).
20 Likes
“It’s a result of either intentional or unintentional conduct by the officers.”
I’m going to go with “intentional”.
19 Likes
A truer statement has never been made. Literally, since all conduct is covered here.
Edit: wow, lots of people jumped on this dumb quote (as they should).
11 Likes
flash back to preschool these officers are using their sticky freezy pop covered little hands trying to fit the square peg into the round hole.
7 Likes
This is totally inexcusable. How could police possibly mistake the upstanding white citizen for a young black criminal?
2 Likes
Being 23, black, and driving home from your job. It’s a trap.
I’d be curious to hear Judge Hardy’s words, to understand why this even got to that point… could the defender have stepped in earlier without this even getting to the judge?
BTW, according to this article, the bad guy was 4 inches taller, not 5 and it was 4 days before he saw the judge. Hopefully it wasn’t another two days after the order to release him. Also learned the other Brown was in jail in Needles and:
The older man faced a charge of ownership or possession of a firearm by a prohibited person, court records show.
The weapons charge is typical when someone with a prior felony conviction is arrested with a gun. But 49-year-old Shane Brown had first been convicted of a felony in 1994, before Shane Lee Brown was born, the lawsuit said.
Also disconcerting (emphasis added):
“Upon information and belief, the unknown Henderson police officers and supervisors failed to perform even a cursory review of the warrant to determine if Shane Lee Brown was the person named in the warrant,” the lawsuit said.
15 Likes
It would save a lot of money if authorities just admitted they screwed up and paid without a lawsuit.
10 Likes
Lemme guess, their next move is to charge him with impersonating the real suspect.
14 Likes
Whenever a similar name scenario comes up, it reminds me of Joyce Ann Brown:
https://www.law.northwestern.edu/legalclinic/wrongfulconvictions/exonerations/tx/joyce-ann-brown.html
For cops and members of the “justice” system who have no intention of doing the job as they should, nothing about the details matter - name, ethnicity, evidence, alibis, witnesses, the laws of physics, etc… That they double down on the “mistakes,” and drag out restorative or punitive measures intended to address those wrongs is what makes these cases so enraging.
20 Likes
That must have been a real “Who’s on first?” situation for the cops:
“Wait, this warrant says it’s for a white guy with the same name.”
“Yeah, but this guy’s Black.”
“Exactly, so we should arrest him!”
“But he’s Black.”
“And he has the same name!”
“Wait, you’re right! You’re coming with us, pal.”
10 Likes
This seems to be an unusually extreme case of Cross-Race Effect. /s
2 Likes
13 Likes
A cross-race effect where a short, young Black man is mistaken for an old, tall white guy? I think that is a reach, honestly.
16 Likes
Maybe they think that all black men look like taller older white guys?
Yeah, nope.
6 Likes
