Listen up: 'It's not me!'

(Photo by Newsum)

Certainly, many a bad guy insists “It’s not me!” when arrested.  But many a good guy insists that too, and in their case, it’s the honest truth.

So the real Marvin Seales was at work one day when he was hauled off by a team of Detroit police officers.  Their pretext for doing so was that a crime had been committed in the name

of Marvin Seals.

Roderick Siner, the actual criminal who had gone by the “Seals” name, looked nothing like this Marvin Seales.  Even the name did not exactly match.  Seales was therefore quick to insist:  It’s not me!

No one listened to Seales.  Not the arresting officers, not the fingerprinting personnel, not the sheriff’s agents, and not the jail staff.  He was locked up with serious criminals and held for more than two weeks.

It took years for Seales’ wrongful-arrest-and-imprisonment case to go to trial.  In the meantime, Seales could have lost his reputation, his relationships, his job and his new home.

Fortunately, some folks finally listened.  They were the eight jurors who unanimously ruled in Seales’ favor.  He was then awarded the largest such settlement in court history:  $3.5 million.  Justice was ultimately served with a big juicy cherry on top.

Resources

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/wrongfully-jailed-man-wins-2435-million-i-kept-saying-its-not-me/ar-BBLigkF

Copyright July 31, 2018 by Linda Van Slyke   All Rights Reserved