Juan Garcia lived in Long Beach with his common-law wife and three children, the youngest of which is only two weeks old. He has been with her for five and a half years. On June 4, 2010 according to his wife, he was pulled over by Long Beach police for no reason. During the course of the polices search it was determined that he had two outstanding warrants.
One of these warrants was for a failure to appear in a ten-year-old case from Long Beach that was quickly resolved, and the other a warrant for his arrest stemming from a domestic violence incident in West Sacramento on December 18, 2009.
What quickly became apparent was the only tie that Mr. Garcia had to this case was a common name and a common date of birth. Based solely on name and birthdate, he was arrested, transported to the Yolo County Jail and held there for nearly two months.
Public Defender Dean Johansson told the Vanguard as well as the court that he had informed the District Attorney’s office of the case of mistaken identity almost from the start. It is unclear why it took so long for the DA’s office to finally look into the issue, send an investigator to the woman’s residence, and find out that indeed this was the wrong guy. Instead Mr. Garcia was kept away from his wife and family, the birth of their third child, for nearly two months.
His wife told the Vanguard on Thursday, that, in fact, the night before the supposed incident was his birthday, December 17, and they had gone out to dinner. We also saw a faxed form from his place of employment certifying that he had worked the day in question as well as the following day.
Yesterday, Mr. Garcia finally had his hearing in Yolo County court in front of Judge Thomas Warriner. The District Attorney acknowledged that this defendant was arrested in Long Beach and claimed to be the wrong guy. They got ahold of the victim and the DA stated, “he is not the right person.” She went on to say that he was arrested because of the match in the name and date of birth.
Deputy Public Defender Dean Johansson was not happy and also concerned about the system. He suggested that there was a serious problem in the system and he was not sure how this can be remedied.
The District Attorney did offer the office’s most sincere apology.
There was also concern expressed by Mr. Johansson that if he is simply released, he could be rearrested if the name popped up. Judge Warriner said he would sign an order to have the arrest removed from his record and to put an order on this case noting that this particular defendant has no relation to this case. He suggested that Mr. Johansson should get creative about how to approach this case.
To make matters worse, now Mr. Garcia has an ICE hold on his record and therefore may face deportation. It is not clear what his immigration status was or how this faulty arrest will affect it. His life may end up being turned completely upside down based on something that was no fault of his own.
There are two aspects of this case that ought to really concern local residents. First appears to be the lack of fail-safe in our system to properly identify the individual arrested. As soon as the victim was shown a picture of the accused, she immediately was able to determine that he was not the individual in question. She had never seen him before in her life. And yet, Mr. Garcia was in custody for nearly two months before an identification was made. Why someone could be arrested simply based on name and birth date is baffling.
Second, the DA’s office obviously issued an apology, which sources tell me just does not happen. However, how is that they allowed this to happen under their watch for nearly two months. They have to bear a large amount of responsibility here. Frankly they are now liable for a lawsuit if the family has the resources to file one.
The DA’s office needs to quickly figure out what went wrong, and give a very public assurance that this will not happen again and take steps to see that it does not. We hear of stories in the media where people are arrested based on mistaken identity. It is scary that it could happen for so long.
Mistakes happen. The problem here is how long it took the DA’s office to discover their own mistake and then rectify the situation. There is no excuse to have someone arrested and in custody for nearly two months before the matter is resolved. But that is what happened here.
Meanwhile this man’s life and family’s life may be turned upside down, based not on what he himself did, but rather his name and birthdate.
—David M. Greenwald reporting
“To make matters worse is now Mr. Garcia has an ICE hold on his record and therefore may face deportation. It is not clear what his immigration status was or how this faulty arrest will affect it. His life may end up being turned completely upside down based on something that was no fault of his own.”
Who’s fault do you think it is that he may be in the country illegally?
So you favor the Arizona approach, round all the Mexican looking people and find out if they are hear illegally and deport them?
Regardless, the problem here was caused by a flaw in the judicial system.
“So you favor the Arizona approach, round all the Mexican looking people and find out if they are hear illegally and deport them?”
Another one portraying the Arizona law unfairly.
Juan Garcia is a very common name. He obviously had to give the policeman his id when he was pulled over. His id would have shown that he lived in Long Beach.
The fact that he lived in Long Beach (a very long distance from West Sacramento) should have made the DA’s office question whether he was the right person or not–especially if the Public Defender from the start said it was a question of mis-identification.
This is just one more case where the lack of investigation by the DA’s office is evident. Unfortunatly Mr. Garcia had to spend two months in jail for their lack of investigation, and they give him an “I’m sorry.” An apology doesn’t quite cut it.
These are the kinds of things that happen when you use a “big stick” approach to law enforcement and not common sense.
Sounds like they owe him more than an apology – lost wages opprtunity and some punitive damages.
This is just plain unacceptable. Not good. It doesn’t matter that the person is here illegally. We are not supposed to jail people who are clearly innocent. The guy presented clear evidence of an alibi. I’m guessing that the Asst. DA had this file, but just didn’t take the time to look at it until now. I am certain that the apology offered was sincere. Maybe this Asst. DA will be a little more careful in the future and not just assume that all people arrested must be guilty and a wait in jail is OK. I agree that the County needs to do something for this man to help him start his life anew.
The comments about Mr. Garcia being in the Country illegally shows many people’s ignorance of immigration and immigration laws. Someone who is a legal permanent residence can be deported if they violate the law. The mere fact that Mr. Garcia was arrested, although incorrectly, means that he now has another issue to face besides his first hurdle of clearing his name in Yolo County. Now he has to clarify to INS what happened, which is not an easy or quick task. So another unforeseen repercussion of sloppy police work an innocent person has to suffer. Please educate yourself before jumping to conclusions. David, thank you for researching and being vigilant.
If Mr. Garcia is a legal resident and wasn’t convicted of an aggravated felony then he won’t be deported. How is that hard to understand?
It isn’t difficult to understand. It sounded to me and perhaps I read it incorrectly, that someone asserted the fact Mr. Garcia has an ICE hold on his record meant it was his fault for being in the country illegally. I meant that if that was indeed what they were saying it is a wrong assertion. Just because there is an ICE hold does not mean he is illegal. Also, the bureaucracy of the Government can work very slowly, so it might take a long time to clarify to ICE/INS what happened. I hope for this man’s sake everything goes quickly and smoothly. He has had enough stress.
I don’t quite understand why this guy languished in jail for two months. Every defendant has a right to a speedy trial…
[i]”Deputy Public Defender Dean Johansson was not happy and also concerned about the system. He suggested that there was a serious problem in the system and he was not sure how this can be remedied.”[/i]
Assuming that the other Juan Garcia had previously been arrested, the best answer is to take a DNA sample from [i]everyone[/i] who is arrested in California, misdemeanor or felony. Then, if a person such as the good Juan Gacia is arrested and claims his is a case of mistaken identity, the DNA would prove his innocence. Further, by expanding our DNA database, many other crimes would be solved more quickly.
In Orange County, when a person is arrested for a some misdemeanors, he can have the charges dropped in exchange for giving up a DNA sample ([url]http://articles.latimes.com/2009/sep/17/local/me-oc-dna17[/url]). (“The plan applies to people arrested for nonviolent misdemeanors, including petty theft, trespassing and low-level drug-possession felonies.”)
I cannot see how any reasonable person could object to this kind of a plan, though of course the ACLU knuckleheads do object.
Under current state law, everyone arrested for a serious felony must give a DNA sample and must be fingerprinted. The ACLU strangely objects to the former but not the latter ([url]http://articles.sfgate.com/2010-07-14/news/21982327_1_dna-testing-felony-charges[/url]). (“Judge Milan Smith said DNA testing, taken with a swab from the inner cheek, is no more intrusive than fingerprinting and is ‘a really good way of identifying people.'”)
Like all ideologically driven groups, the ACLU’s conclusions seem to be much more about their exteme ideology than about practical reality. In other words, they would rather have the innocent Juan Garcia rot away in jail than put in place a system which probably would have freed him (or others like him) immediately.
[i]”Juan Garcia is a very common name.”[/i]
The Long Beach listings for Juan Garcia:
[Names and numbers removed; there were a lot of them. I think this is not necessarily a great thing to post on a public blog. — Don]
1. Every single illegal alien is guilty of knowingly and intentionally breaking federal law simply by being here.
2. Every single illegal alien with any sort of US ID must, by definition, be guilty of some level of Identity Theft as there’s no way they could get legal US ID.
3. Every single illegal alien who is driving is guilty of at least 2 more crimes. Driving with an illegal Driver’s License (or driving without a license) and driving either without insurance or with illegally attained insurance (due to # 2).
4. Every single illegal alien who obtains any other government or private industry products or services (food stamps, healthcare, etc.) using illegal ID is involved in some level of fraud.
5. Any other crimes committed, from parking violations to DUI to misdemeanors to felonies are ALL crimes that would not have been committed if the illegal alien committing them was not here illegally in the first place, so the specious argument that they may create fewer crimes, percentage-wise, than other groups is pointless. Every single crime they commit is one that should never have happened and could have been prevented.
[i]”1. Every single illegal alien is guilty of knowingly and intentionally breaking federal law simply by being here.”[/i]
What about children who were smuggled into the US by their parents? They don’t “know” they have broken any laws.
[i]”2. Every single illegal alien with any sort of US ID must, by definition, be guilty of some level of Identity Theft as there’s no way they could get legal US ID.”[/i]
AFAIK, Oregon issues driver’s licenses to illegal aliens ([url]http://www.oregoncatalyst.com/index.php?/archives/326-Oregon-Driver-Licenses-and-Illegal-Aliens.html[/url]). So your statement is likely false.
[i]”3. Every single illegal alien who is driving is guilty of at least 2 more crimes. Driving with an illegal Driver’s License (or driving without a license) and driving either without insurance or with illegally attained insurance (due to # 2).”[/i]
False again. See #2.
[i]”4. Every single illegal alien who obtains any other government or private industry products or services (food stamps, healthcare, etc.) using illegal ID is involved in some level of fraud.”[/i]
False again. See #2. Moreover, most county-level health and welfare programs never require any ID to be provided. As such, this assertion is not only false, it is probably hollow.
[i]”5. Any other crimes committed, from parking violations to DUI to misdemeanors to felonies are ALL crimes that would not have been committed if the illegal alien committing them was not here illegally in the first place, so the specious argument that they may create fewer crimes, percentage-wise, than other groups is pointless. Every single crime they commit is one that should never have happened and could have been prevented.”[/i]
That is circular reasoning. It would apply just as well to legal immigrants and native born Americans. In other words, if your parents had used better contraception, the taxpayers would never have had to pay for your K-12 education or to provide police and fire protection for you and so on.
The vast majority of immigrants in the U.S. are here because this is where they can best make a living. That is pretty much the same story of immigrants going back to the Scotch-Irish who came in the 1700s, the Irish who flooded our shores from the 1840s on, and every group which came from 1880-1925.
Although most immigrants were allowed in, many during that time came illegally. My grandfather — who was born in Poland and came to the U.S. by way of Chechnya and Siberia (where he was a conscript in the Russian Army), China, Japan, Indonesia, Australia and Ceylon (where he was a tailor in the U.S. merchant marine), South Africa, Argentina and Panama (where he was an adventurer and occassional tailor) — was turned away when he arrived in the Port of Los Angeles in 1915. He had paperwork, he spoke English (which he learned living in Shanghai and aboard American ships) and he had proof of his work record on US ships. But because he had spent too much time in Panama, it was feared that he might have a contagious disease. He was thus told he could not enter the U.S. So he got back on his ship, waited until it was dark, and walked past the guards into the then small City of Los Angeles.
Two years later, working as a tailor in the garment district in San Francisco, he was rounded up along with hundreds of other illegal aliens from Europe and told he had two choices: go fight for the US in WW1 or get sent back to Poland. He became a private in Uncle Sam’s Army, where he went to France, fought the Huns, used his sartorial skills to repair canvas wings on airplanes, got shot in the back and made stylish uniforms for officers. After the war, he was honorably discharged, joined the VFW, and was made a US citizen when he returned to San Francisco. (He ultimately made a success of himself as a mid-priced women’s clothing manufacturer.)
Come on people, everyone knows that DA Reisig runs this county like the gestapo, if you are Mexican you are either illegal, a gang member or guilty of something. Justice is the last option and only comes if all other means to get a conviction or plea bargain fail. Very un-American and very sad it is allowed to happen.
TO: Rifkin – It DA Reisig had his way he would take that list, round them all up claiming “reasonable suspicion” arrest them and hope that some had warrants for something else or maybe they were illegal, or maybe they would resist and get a new charge and then do a press release on how he did such a great job at rounding up criminals. Business as usual for Mr. Reisig.
Rich,
With all due respect you are citing an old law.
Beginning July 1,2008 all Oregon drivers, including noncitizens, have to show proof of U.S. citizenship and/or legal presence to get, renew or replace a driver’s license.
Rich–your suggestion that the solution to this problem is to take DNA samples from every person arrested for either a misdemeanor of felony is absurd. Forensic DNA labs are so backed up right now that they are literally months behind on even the most serious felony cases. If poor Juan Garcia had to languish in jail until his DNA were run, he would have been in there for two years, not two months.
In addition, there are serious privacy concerns involved. Unless you amended your suggestion to “everyone ‘convicted’ of a misdemeanor or felony”, or mandated the destruction of all DNA samples for those who were acquitted or for those for whom the charges were dropped, it would be getting way too “1984” for my tastes.
As for Bryan and Leah, no, I’m not a supporter of the Arizona law. I used the word “may”, and was actually commenting on David’s contention that none of Garcia’s problems were self-inflicted. Leah–you’re guilty of the same thing you’re accusing me of, by apparently assuming that the ICE hold is NOT due to him being in the country illegally. There was no information in EITHER direction that I saw.
“With all due respect you are citing an old law.
Beginning July 1,2008 all Oregon drivers, including noncitizens, have to show proof of U.S. citizenship and/or legal presence to get, renew or replace a driver’s license.”
You tell him Craised.
ROGER: [i]TO: Rifkin – If DA Reisig had his way he would take that list …[/i]
What list?
[i]… round them all up claiming “reasonable suspicion” arrest them and hope that some had warrants for something else or maybe they were illegal … [/i]
What you suggest he would do is illegal, regardless. In that he has never done anything like that, it seems like a baseless accusation of what his future actions would be.
[i]”… or maybe they would resist and get a new charge and then do a press release on how he did such a great job at rounding up criminals.”[/i]
If that is what the DA wanted to do, he would have done it. He has not.
[i]Beginning July 1,2008 all Oregon drivers, including noncitizens, have to show proof of U.S. citizenship and/or legal presence to get, renew or replace a driver’s license.[/i]
Okay.
[i]Rich–your suggestion that the solution to this problem is to take DNA samples from every person arrested for either a misdemeanor of felony is absurd. Forensic DNA labs are so backed up right now that they are literally months behind on even the most serious felony cases.”[/i]
Taking each sample takes five seconds. It is happening now in Orange County. A DNA test takes about 3 days to process and costs about $75, according to the LA Times.
The reason that there is a backlog is not because it takes so long or costs so much to process DNA. It is due to perverse incentives set up by federal regulators to slow down the system: [quote] … because of a strange set of incentives, labs remain eligible for some federal assistance to process DNA samples only so long as they are running behind. Regardless of Congressional intent, federal funding rewards maintaining a backlog.[/quote] Like with any market, if you offer the correct incentives and you allow profit-seekers to make profits, you will get rid of queues. We used to have long gas lines in the U.S. Russia used to have long bread lines. Both were due to perverse incentives created by government. Both ended instantly when the incentives were corrected. (I have argued in the past that we could get rid of ALL regular traffic jams everywhere every day if we simply priced freeway travel efficiently, as they do in Hong Kong, parts of London and a few other places.)
[i]” If poor Juan Garcia had to languish in jail until his DNA were run, he would have been in there for two years, not two months.”[/i]
His DNA could be processed in 3 days for $75. It cost more than that per day, I would guess, to hold him in jail every day.
[i]In addition, there are serious privacy concerns involved. Unless you amended your suggestion to “everyone ‘convicted’ of a misdemeanor or felony”, or mandated the destruction of all DNA samples for those who were acquitted or for those for whom the charges were dropped, it would be getting way too “1984” for my tastes.[/i]
Why? This is just paranoia. We should not base public policy on that. The DNA database having a swab of your saliva is no threat to you. And in case someone else who looks like you commits a crime, you will more easily be able to clear yourself if your DNA and his DNA are in the system.
Note: I forgot to include the source for my quote above. It comes from California Watch ([url]http://californiawatch.org/watchblog/california-making-dent-dna-testing-backlog[/url]).
But back to this case: Who sez he got pulled over for no reason? Maybe the original reason got put aside when he was “identified” as a wanted criminal. Why would he have to go to a hearing to be released once the DA had confirmed that he was arrested by mistake? Is it possible he was being held for some other reason?
[quote]David: ” (The judge) suggested that Mr. Johansson should get creative about how to approach this case.”[/quote] To what was he referring? Change Juan Garcia’s name to William Smith? I don’t get the implication.
Wouldn’t Mr. Garcia have recourse for something like unlawful arrest for spending two months in Yolo County Jail before we decided he was the wrong man? Seems like three days would be the outside limit for deciding to check on the man’s identity. Of course, our law enforcement and judicial folks were tied up with the big Maria Pastor possession case. Maybe the courts would excuse the delay in determining one of their prisoner’s identities if everyone’s overloaded.
[quote]Of course, there’s still that pesky little detail about Mr, Garcia’s proof of citizenship: “To make matters worse, now Mr. Garcia has an ICE hold on his record and therefore may face deportation[u]. It is not clear what his immigration status was[/u] or how this faulty arrest will affect it. His life may end up being turned completely upside down based on something that was no fault of his own.”[/quote] It shouldn’t take long to get that worked out if he’s a American citizen–born here or naturalized with papers to show–or a legal visitor with papers to show.
Rich: You aren’t suggesting that one of Long Beach’s Juana or Juanita Garcias would have been as likely to have been arrested on this West Sac domestic violence charge?
The common law wife purportedly feels, [quote] he was pulled over by Long Beach police for no reason.[/quote]
A must be factual statement, as most people know that Long Beach officers are guilty the above, when the city of 400k+ (5th largest in CA) had 2000 arrests in June of 2010 alone. Clearly officers prudently spend their ‘spare time,’ in between calls for service pulling people over “for no reason.”
What is also very interesting in this matter is the following statement of the Deputy Public Pretender, er, Defender:
[quote]Public Defender Dean Johansson told the Vanguard as well as the court that he had informed the District Attorney’s office of the case of mistaken identity almost from the start.[/quote]
One must ponder exactly what an attorney means when he says, “…almost from the start.”
Hmmm, It would seem that effective counsel would immediately (after receiving notice from his client re: Mistaken ID) have dispatched the PD investigators to check out the matter.
PD investigators have equal access to DOJ, FBI, NCIC, CII etc. No, rather the PD tactic was to try to put the onus on and B-lame the DA.
Most attorneys are precise, but here the chosen phrase is
“…almost from the start.” and not June 11, 2010 (or whenever).
Where’s the blogger’s investigative eye when it comes to addressing the Long Beach Police and LA county Sheriff’s Department? The two agencies have no duty to ensure they have the right person? Is that it David? Oh, I’m sorry, it would’nt fit the media bill to bash the Yolo DA.
What’s more [quote]Deputy Public Defender Dean Johansson was not happy and also concerned about the system. He suggested that there was a serious problem in the system and he was not sure how this can be remedied.[/quote]
Johansson works in a system and has no clue how to remedy such a “serious problem?” Hint, see above.
[quote]The DA’s office needs to quickly figure out what went wrong, and give a very public assurance that this will not happen again and take steps to see that it does not. We hear of stories in the media where people are arrested based on mistaken identity. It is scary that it could happen for so long.[/quote]
Where’s the balanced approach? Oh, yes — It’s the YJW, a project of the Peoples Vanguard of Davis…. The Investigative Eye…
“Where’s the balanced approach?”
Balanced? Sorry, but that wouldn’t fit the agenda here.
Primoris
Please provide us some balanced rationale for locking up the wrong person for two months – any way you look at it it is wrong! Of course Long Beach should share some blame, but everything needed to solve the error was located in Yolo County and Yolo County failed to act in a reasonable manner.
Primoris,
“What is also very interesting in this matter is the following statement of the Deputy Public Pretender, er, Defender:
Public Defender Dean Johansson told the Vanguard as well as the court that he had informed the District Attorney’s office of the case of mistaken identity almost from the start.
One must ponder exactly what an attorney means when he says, ‘…almost from the start.'”
I too wonder, but are you sure those are the actual words of DPD Johansson?
“PD investigators have equal access to DOJ, FBI, NCIC, CII etc. No, rather the PD tactic was to try to put the onus on and B-lame the DA.”
Perhaps there aren’t enough investigators to swiftly and thoroughly look into the defendant’s allegations? Maybe it’s not an issue of access to databases?
“Where’s the blogger’s investigative eye when it comes to addressing the Long Beach Police and LA county Sheriff’s Department?”
Not as focused on agencies outside of Yolo County?
SM writes: [quote]I too wonder, but are you sure those are the actual words of DPD Johansson? [/quote]
Are you suggesting we we ought not take Greenwald’s word at face value or give him the benefit of the doubt when he quotes an individual that he actually interviews?
Consequently, I can be no more sure than DG (as the original author) is sure.
[quote]Perhaps there aren’t enough investigators to swiftly and thoroughly look into the defendant’s allegations? Maybe it’s not an issue of access to databases?[/quote]
Perhaps, but aren’t DPD’s supposed to be zealously representing their clients? It would seem that a simple comparison of FBI, CII numbers and DMV pics, height, weight etc. would be sufficient. PD’s themselves have equal access, so busy investigator’s is not a good excuse — for 2 months, IMHO.
[quote]Not as focused on agencies outside of Yolo County?[/quote]
Exactly, nothing like a thorough multi-sided article. Oops, almost forget the agenda-driven source, never mind.
“Are you suggesting we we ought not take Greenwald’s word at face value or give him the benefit of the doubt when he quotes an individual that he actually interviews?”
No, not exactly. It seemed to me that you were quoting DPD Johansson as making a statement, when that wasn’t the case. I don’t believe those were quoted statements. The “statement” is vague and frankly deserved a little more attention and specificity than it received, in my opinion.
“Consequently, I can be no more sure than DG (as the original author) is sure.”
I can’t speak for you, but I am generally skeptical, no matter whom the author may be. Nonetheless, I don’t agree with your conclusion. I do think there are problems with journalists, bloggers, newscasters, pundits…miss-quoting, poorly phrasing, inaccurately characterizing and so forth.
“Perhaps, but aren’t DPD’s supposed to be zealously representing their clients”
Yes, and I do not see any evidence indicating Johansson did not do just that. What have you heard?
“It would seem that a simple comparison of FBI, CII numbers and DMV pics, height, weight etc. would be sufficient. PD’s themselves have equal access, so busy investigator’s is not a good excuse — for 2 months, IMHO.”
It would seem, but things are not always as they seem, to put it plainly and simply. How many felony cases was Johansson working on at the time? With all due respect, I find it very difficult to believe Johansson knew about this and sat on it, delayed action or in anyway failed to give this guy the best possible representation given the means he has at his disposal. Is anyone claiming he did not zealously represent this guy?
If the PD screwed up and didn’t jump all over this ASAP, then they share some of the blame. At this point, the DA’s Office has apologized, so I don’t think those placing some of the blame are in the DA’s Office are in the wrong, are they-if the DA’s Office to some extent agrees? I think a follow-up piece detailing the phases of this incident, from all sides, would be great.
“Exactly, nothing like a thorough multi-sided article. Oops, almost forget the agenda-driven source, never mind.”
I just meant that his chosen focus is on the Yolo County criminal justice system, so maybe that’s why the article focused more on Yolo County agencies.