Published: May 23, 2008 07:52 pm      

Judge rules in city’s favor

Federal rights lawsuit

LEXINGTON — A federal judge Thursday dismissed a lawsuit against the city of Richmond and one of its police officers which alleged a case of mistaken identity violated her constitutional rights.

Debra L. Wren filed the suit in November 2006, more than a year after an incident in which she claims she was arrested on charges her former sister-in-law with the same first and last name — spelled slightly different — allegedly committed.

U.S. District Judge Jennifer B. Coffman entered the judgment affirming that Richmond Police Detective Rodney Richardson not only acted within his responsibilities based on probable cause, but also that once he realized the mistake, he acted quickly to correct it.

“Obviously we are pleased with the result and the court’s finding that no constitutional violation occurred,” said Charley Cole, attorney for the city and Richardson.

The suit stemmed from a credit card theft and subsequent fraudulent use at a Richmond Redi Mart. The fraud victim identified one of the involved suspects as Debra Wren, whom she had seen that day when she performed a urinalysis for Wren at Madison County Drug Court.

With that name, Richardson obtained a video of the Redi Mart activity and conducted a “mug shot” search for Debra Wren in a police department database, court documents state. A photo of Debra Wren was found in the database because “she had previously been arrested and booked for the felony of theft by unlawful taking (“tbut”)/shoplifting in 2002 — a crime all too similar to the tbut, i.e. theft and fraudulent use of (the victim’s) credit card,” court documents state.

Reportedly, the mug shot photo and video from the Redi Mart seemed to match, so Richardson swore out a warrant for Wren’s arrest. After being served with the arrest warrant by another RPD officer, Wren complained she was wrongfully accused and that it was her former sister-in-law who was to blame.

“The facts as developed in discovery clearly indicated that Detective Richardson had probable cause to support the arrest of Debra Wren,” Cole said Friday. “Once it was realized that there were two Debra Wrens (Debra L. Wren and Debora K. Wren) in the city of Richmond, the record reveals that Detective Richardson immediately took action to secure the release of Debra (L.) Wren.”

Coffman agreed.

“Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the plaintiff, the court finds that the warrant for Debra Wren’s arrest was supported by probable cause,” Coffman’s ruling states. “... Thus, the plaintiff’s arrest and detention were also supported by probable cause. Therefore, the plaintiff’s constitutional rights were not violated by the actions of the city of Richmond or Detective Richardson.”

Attorney for Wren, Brian Canupp, is not convinced.

“Anytime a person is wrongfully incarcerated it creates a difficult situation for all those involved,” Canupp said. “We disagree with the judgment that was entered by the court in the matter of Wren v. City of Richmond. At this time, it has not been possible to do a thorough review of the opinion with Ms. Wren and to discuss her options, including a request to reconsider the decision or file a direct appeal to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.”

“We do not anticipate an appeal,” Cole said, “but we feel confident that the judgment would be affirmed by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.”

Kelly Foreman can be reached at kforeman@richmondregister.com or 624-6694.