Post by WaTcHeR on Oct 19, 2006 10:18:54 GMT -5
10.19.2006 - An apology letter from the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department to a Palm Desert man who was wrongfully jailed for five days in 2004 has been sent, officials said today.
“I’ve got no problem apologizing,” Sheriff Bob Doyle said of the letter meant for Enrique Jimenez Macia. “He was a victim. I’ve got no problem apologizing at all.”
The sheriff does have a problem, though, with the private attorney who defended the county in the federal lawsuit filed by Macia.
He said the attorney, Bruce Disenhouse, who was contracted by the county to act as its attorney in this case, failed to represent the department to the best of his ability — missing a court appearance, as well as a filing deadline in response to a judge’s order.
“We’re constructing a memo now ... asking that the county no longer use him in matters involving the sheriff’s department,” Doyle said today.
Macia, 41, sued Riverside County and the sheriff’s department in federal court alleging that he spent five days in jail because sheriff’s deputies refused to check computer records proving that he was not a wanted felon who had stolen his identification years earlier.
He also alleged that a sheriff’s deputy ignored a court-ordered “Do Not Arrest” mandate handed down by an Orange County judge verifying that Macia is a law-abiding citizen who was a victim of identity theft.
Macia’s attorney, Christopher Vader, of Indio, said his client was stopped for a traffic violation in Orange County in 2001.
Deputies there assumed he was a wanted criminal who had stolen
Macia’s identity and was using it to allegedly commit crimes.
Macia convinced a judge that he was a victim and the judge issued the mandate, which Vader said Macia carried with him at all times in the event that he was stopped by police.
In 2004, on his son’s 12th birthday, Vader said Macia went to the store and was stopped by a Riverside County sheriff’s deputy.
According to his lawsuit, Macia produced the Orange County judge’s court order, however, he contended that the deputy ignored it and took him to jail because of a felony warrant issued for someone with is name.
Vader said today that Macia was then jailed for two days in the Riverside County jail in Indio before being shipped to Riverside where he was detained in the Robert Presley Detention facility for three days.
“His wife brought a copy of the order to the jail but no one would look at it and no one would check the computer to make sure that my client was not the man they were looking for,” Vader said.
Sheriff’s officials disagree that Macia produced the order and dispute Vader’s claim that Macia’s wife showed up at the jail in Indio.
They said Macia demanded to appear before a judge in Orange County. If he had gone before a Riverside County judge, officials said, he would have been released sooner.
In a June 2005 settlement, the sheriff’s department agreed to a court-ordered $15,000 settlement.
Through Disenhouse, the department also agreed to a provide a letter of apology, Doyle said.
However, the sheriff added, there was “some confusion” about the letter, which was initially thought to be another “Do Not Arrest” document issued this time by Riverside County authorities.
On Oct. 11, a federal judge fined the sheriff’s department an additional $4,000 and ordered that the apology be issued.
Vader said his client has been deeply affected by his experience.
“He has developed a healthy fear of police officers, which he never had before,” Vader said of Macia.
“Through this whole thing, (Macia) has never been looking for a lottery ticket or a million dollars,” Vader added. “He was looking for some kind of document to show that he is the person he is. He wanted something from the sheriff’s department to prevent this from happening to him or anybody else.”
www.thedesertsun.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061018/UPDATE/61018035
“I’ve got no problem apologizing,” Sheriff Bob Doyle said of the letter meant for Enrique Jimenez Macia. “He was a victim. I’ve got no problem apologizing at all.”
The sheriff does have a problem, though, with the private attorney who defended the county in the federal lawsuit filed by Macia.
He said the attorney, Bruce Disenhouse, who was contracted by the county to act as its attorney in this case, failed to represent the department to the best of his ability — missing a court appearance, as well as a filing deadline in response to a judge’s order.
“We’re constructing a memo now ... asking that the county no longer use him in matters involving the sheriff’s department,” Doyle said today.
Macia, 41, sued Riverside County and the sheriff’s department in federal court alleging that he spent five days in jail because sheriff’s deputies refused to check computer records proving that he was not a wanted felon who had stolen his identification years earlier.
He also alleged that a sheriff’s deputy ignored a court-ordered “Do Not Arrest” mandate handed down by an Orange County judge verifying that Macia is a law-abiding citizen who was a victim of identity theft.
Macia’s attorney, Christopher Vader, of Indio, said his client was stopped for a traffic violation in Orange County in 2001.
Deputies there assumed he was a wanted criminal who had stolen
Macia’s identity and was using it to allegedly commit crimes.
Macia convinced a judge that he was a victim and the judge issued the mandate, which Vader said Macia carried with him at all times in the event that he was stopped by police.
In 2004, on his son’s 12th birthday, Vader said Macia went to the store and was stopped by a Riverside County sheriff’s deputy.
According to his lawsuit, Macia produced the Orange County judge’s court order, however, he contended that the deputy ignored it and took him to jail because of a felony warrant issued for someone with is name.
Vader said today that Macia was then jailed for two days in the Riverside County jail in Indio before being shipped to Riverside where he was detained in the Robert Presley Detention facility for three days.
“His wife brought a copy of the order to the jail but no one would look at it and no one would check the computer to make sure that my client was not the man they were looking for,” Vader said.
Sheriff’s officials disagree that Macia produced the order and dispute Vader’s claim that Macia’s wife showed up at the jail in Indio.
They said Macia demanded to appear before a judge in Orange County. If he had gone before a Riverside County judge, officials said, he would have been released sooner.
In a June 2005 settlement, the sheriff’s department agreed to a court-ordered $15,000 settlement.
Through Disenhouse, the department also agreed to a provide a letter of apology, Doyle said.
However, the sheriff added, there was “some confusion” about the letter, which was initially thought to be another “Do Not Arrest” document issued this time by Riverside County authorities.
On Oct. 11, a federal judge fined the sheriff’s department an additional $4,000 and ordered that the apology be issued.
Vader said his client has been deeply affected by his experience.
“He has developed a healthy fear of police officers, which he never had before,” Vader said of Macia.
“Through this whole thing, (Macia) has never been looking for a lottery ticket or a million dollars,” Vader added. “He was looking for some kind of document to show that he is the person he is. He wanted something from the sheriff’s department to prevent this from happening to him or anybody else.”
www.thedesertsun.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061018/UPDATE/61018035