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Stewart v. District Attorney for the Eighteenth Circuit Court District for the State of Mississippi8/23/2005
he birth date discrepancy normally may not have been uncommon, in this case, it was extraordinarily significant. The significance of the birth date discrepancy lies in the fact that the information supplied to the Louisiana authorities to make the arrest was supplied by the district attorney's office, and the Louisiana authorities acted on that information in making the arrest. When the Louisiana authorities made the arrest, they determined that the arrested Stewart's birth date did not match the birth date of the Stewart in the information supplied by the district attorney's office. In this instance, and under these circumstances, how can it legitimately be argued that the failure of the district attorney's office to timely investigate the birth date discrepancy did not amount to gross negligence and that its actions were "objectively reasonable."
. The explanation given by witness Riley, and embraced by the majority, to support the notion that the actions of the district attorney's office were reasonable, even in light of the office's failure to timely investigate the birth date discrepancy, makes no logical sense. The source of the Louisiana authorities' information was not a jail roster, which often contains the unverified birth dates of arrestees, but credible information supplied by the district attorney's office. It is important to observe that this information had to come from the files being maintained in the district attorney's office. Where else would the district attorney have gotten the birth date of the perpetrator except from the copy of the identification card given to the district attorney's office by one of the merchants who took one of the worthless checks from the individual posing as Gary Stewart and obtained a copy of his identification card, along with a clear picture of the individual.
. The majority, in attempting to assuage the potential legal consequences flowing from the failure of the district attorney's office to timely investigate further upon being advised of the birth date discrepancy, states that the chief investigator for the district attorney's office, Melvin Riley, never had an opportunity to see the incarcerated Stewart and thus learn Stewart's racial identity. The majority explains that Riley chose not to attempt to talk to Stewart because Riley knew that Stewart "was gonna hire his own attorney." The fallacy of this explanation is readily apparent. You do not have to talk to a black person to learn his racial identity. Observing the individual is usually enough. Moreover, the affidavit of the arresting officer in Louisiana - which was filed with the circuit clerk of Jones County on March 8, 2000 - identified the arrested person as "one Gary Stewart, B/M, DOB/6-12-1967, 6-1, 250 lbs., black hair, brown eyes, SOC/433-21-1609, Louisiana driver's license # 005310151." It does not take one well versed in police jargon to know that the designation "B/M" refers to a black male. Although Riley was not asked during his deposition whether he ever inspected the arresting documents which were forwarded from Louisiana, it seems logical to me that someone in the district attorney's office would have. This seems especially true in light of the fact that the Louisiana authorities had informed the district attorney's office that the birth date of the Gary Stewart on the supplied documents did not match the birth date of the Gary Stewart that they arrested.
. I should also comment on the majority's attempt to place all of the responsibility on Stewart for his being detained for more than three weeks while the district attorney's office had information and access to information that clearly proved that Stewart was not the wanted individual. The majority believe
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