He Got Billed $4,000 for Being Kept in Jail on Bogus Charges

[Coleman Smith]

https://www.thedailybeast.com/david...-being-kept-in-jail-on-bogus-charges?ref=home

"David Jones spent 14 months in jail, on charges that were later dropped. While behind bars, he lost his home, his job, and his car, he said.

Then, when he was finally released, his jailers sent him a bill: He owed more than $4,000 for his time in custody."

I hope his lawyers get him $ 10 million.

 

[Toni]

In general, I find it outrageous that people who are incarcerated are made to pay for the privilege. When/if they are assigned work detail, they already 'earn' slave wages. I think something like more than 40 states allow for this sort of thing and it's just plain wrong. It's a way that the system further targets poor people and disproportionately, people of color.

In the case of this person, it's especially outrageously wrong. This holds even if somehow he was able to elude conviction by being more clever than the police in covering up his kiddy porn habit. There are few things I detest more but the same principle must apply.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

Yup, utterly, completely wrong. The state should not profit from punishing citizens. It's always abused. (For an extreme example, look at cameras for traffic enforcement. They're always placed with an eye towards revenue, not safety.)

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

So people are getting worked up over $4,000 and not as much the 14 months of detainment without trial?! (well, the lawsuit covers that later part)

$4,000 room and board seems dirt cheap... even if sleeping on and eating dirt. But 14 months detained by the state without it being taken to trial and two months into said stay, they had found no evidence to support charges other than he might have used a file sharing service?

 

[Toni]

So people are getting worked up over $4,000 and not as much the 14 months of detainment without trial?! (well, the lawsuit covers that later part)

$4,000 room and board seems dirt cheap... even if sleeping on and eating dirt. But 14 months detained by the state without it being taken to trial and two months into said stay, they had found no evidence to support charges other than he might have used a file sharing service?

Both are outrageous--more than outrageous. But there are two separate issues: Being detained for 14 months on unprovable charges is horrendous. Being charged for room and board and other bogus charges while incarcerated is also more than outrageous but a separate outrage.

 

[Coleman Smith]

So people are getting worked up over $4,000 and not as much the 14 months of detainment without trial?! (well, the lawsuit covers that later part)

$4,000 room and board seems dirt cheap... even if sleeping on and eating dirt. But 14 months detained by the state without it being taken to trial and two months into said stay, they had found no evidence to support charges other than he might have used a file sharing service?

Both are outrageous--more than outrageous. But there are two separate issues: Being detained for 14 months on unprovable charges is horrendous. Being charged for room and board and other bogus charges while incarcerated is also more than outrageous but a separate outrage.

I have not read the law suit but based on my experience in handling police claims as an adjuster I would suspect that the petition for damages would include language that is normally expected in such a suit including but not limited to:

False arrest
Malicious imprisonment
Defamation including damage to reputation and credit history,
Loss of income
Loss of interest on any money sized or with held with out legal authority.
Punitive damages for the ingress behavior of the prosecutor.
Attorney's fees and court cost to the defendant.

Since he was not convicted there is a potential law suit against the employer for wrongful discharge based on the assertion that he was innocent until proven guilty and that the discharged was based on false premises.

I would suspect that the named parties to the suit would be each and every person associated with the case.


I am not predicting an out come.

It is easier to predict win/loss at a casino that bet on a jury.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

How could he not lose his job. In jail for 14 months!

 

[Coleman Smith]

How could he not lose his job. In jail for 14 months!

I am not saying it would be a valid claim.

I have seen attorneys put all kinds of allegations in suits hoping something will stick.

 

[Toni]

How could he not lose his job. In jail for 14 months!

Yes but was this a just consequence for him, who was never convicted or even tried? In theory, this could happen to anyone: you are arrested for something you didn’t do, held in jail for over a year. The charges are dropped. Meanwhile, you’ve lost your job, your vehicle, are in dire financial straits for someone else’s mistake.

I understand why he lost his job from his employer’s point of view. But from his, how is any of this just? And how should he be compensated?

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

It seems he has a solid Civil Rights case with the police failing to find anything within a couple months.

 

[Coleman Smith]

How could he not lose his job. In jail for 14 months!

Yes but was this a just consequence for him, who was never convicted or even tried? In theory, this could happen to anyone: you are arrested for something you didn’t do, held in jail for over a year. The charges are dropped. Meanwhile, you’ve lost your job, your vehicle, are in dire financial straits for someone else’s mistake.

I understand why he lost his job from his employer’s point of view. But from his, how is any of this just? And how should he be compensated?

Putative damages.