Opinion ID: 2600181
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Brooks v. Pierce County

Text: On October 9, 1998, David W. Brooks, Jr. was stopped for a traffic violation by a Fife police officer. When the officer was informed by a dispatcher that there was a North Carolina warrant for the arrest of a David W. Brooks, Jr., he placed Brooks under arrest. The officer was advised that the North Carolina warrant described an individual remarkably similar in appearance to the person before him in terms of name, race, and date of birth. Despite Brooks's assertion that he had never been to North Carolina, the officer was not deterred from arresting him. At the Pierce County Jail, Brooks was booked notwithstanding his claims of misidentification. Brooks appeared in Pierce County Superior Court on October 12, 1998. He did not, however, inform the court at that time that there had been a misidentification. Apparently, he had advised his appointed counsel prior to the hearing that he was not the individual named in the warrant, but the attorney failed to call this to the attention of the court, and Brooks was not provided with an opportunity to speak directly to the court. The trial court set an extradition hearing for November 12, 1998, and ordered Brooks held without bail until that date. Although Pierce County received a facsimile copy of the warrant on the same day that Brooks was arrested, Pierce County contacted the North Carolina authorities on October 14, 1998, to request another copy of the warrant and a photograph and fingerprints of the person named in the warrant. Pierce County received a copy of the fingerprints on November 3, 1998. A technician, who reviewed the fingerprints that same day, concluded that they were not Brooks's fingerprints. Brooks was then released from custody. After his release, Brooks filed a complaint against Pierce County in Pierce County Superior Court alleging false imprisonment, negligence, and a violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Subsequently, Pierce County moved for summary judgment. In response, Brooks proffered the same sections of the jail's policy and procedure manual as had Stalter. Brooks also offered the deposition testimony of a county official who indicated that there is no policy or procedure to govern a situation where there is a question as to a person's identity. Another county official stated in a deposition that if a detainee's fingerprints do not match a file in their database, then no other action is taken to identify the detainee. [3] The trial court granted Pierce County's motion, concluding that there was no evidence of a constitutional violation, and that any possible liability for the county ended when Brooks was brought before a judge because he was thereafter held pursuant to a court order. Brooks appealed that decision to Division Two of the Court of Appeals, which later consolidated his case and Stalter's case.