Prevent Arrests Made in Error
For the News-RegisterA Wheeling man has every reason to believe the justice system failed him. The two nights he spent in jail last week were a terrible, unpardonable injustice.
The man, who has asked us not to use his name in order to spare him additional embarrassment, was arrested by Wheeling police about a week ago, and sent to the Northern Regional Jail. He was released only after Ohio County Prosecuting Attorney Scott Smith heard of the arrest and realized that a mistake had been made. Smith immediately notified jail officials to release their prisoner.
Police arrested him because their computer showed he was wanted on two charges. But he wasn't. The computer record, in the National Crime Information Center, was an old one, dating back to 2005.
The victim admits that he ran afoul of the law in 2005. The matter was resolved in court that year; he paid his debt to society.
But early one recent morning, he was arrested again - on the same charge. Despite his protestations of innocence, that a terrible mistake had been made, he was sent to the Northern Regional Jail in Moundsville. He was not released from there until two days later, after Smith became involved.
Smith explained to our reporter, for a story published in today's newspaper, what went wrong. It appears that a computer record showing that the Wheeling man should be arrested was entered in the national system, probably in 2005 - but never erased.
"Unfortunately, there was a gap in the system," Smith said, adding, "... it is pretty rare that it happens."
"Pretty rare" isn't good enough. The man's life and that of his family were disrupted. He missed at least one day's work. News that he had been arrested caused him some embarrassment. All of this happened needlessly. Had information on him been removed from the national computer system after his case was taken care of in 2005, he would not have been arrested.
Smith said there is "no set procedure" for ensuring that computer files such as those involving this case are removed from the NCIC. There needs to be such a procedure. Frankly, we are astounded that one is not in place already, to protect people from miscarriages of justice. What happened to the Wheeling man was wrong - and it should not be allowed to happen to anyone else.
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UNCOMMONSENSE
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07-21-08 8:07 AM
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What ever happened to being innocent until PROVEN guilty? Being arrested, stripped of clothes and dignity and thrown behind bars until you can PROVE your innocence was NOT the intent of the founding fathers! All that need happen now is someone accuse you of a crime and you WILL be arrested. No proof required. Life in a Police State.
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TruthSeeker
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07-20-08 8:38 AM
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Perhaps the WV Legislature needs to make sure that there is a "set procedure" for removing those files from the NCIC. How 'bout it, Delegates and Senators?
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joesr66
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07-20-08 7:50 AM
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They dn't make mistakes but they do have a excuses after excuses why someone has naver done there job right in the first place.
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JaymeJones
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07-20-08 7:27 AM
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It's not rare at all. People are picked up wrongly all the time. I know a person it happened to just recently. I'm not going into details, but he was released pretty quickly once the mistake was discovered.
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