Denver police will change procedures to settle a federal lawsuit filed by a woman who was wrongly jailed after an officer incorrectly identified her as a wanted criminal suspect.
The city agreed to issue a training bulletin to all officers, field training officers and instructors at the police academy to help prevent such errors in the future.
New language also will be put in the Police Department’s operational manual reminding officers “that merely locating a name in a database does not by itself provide probable cause to believe that person in the database is the same person as the suspect.”
It also will instruct police to forward to the detectives bureau those cases when positive identification information isn’t available.
Valerie Rodriguez, 30, who owns a home in north Aurora and works for a stock-brokerage firm helping to maintain assets of customers, also will receive about $15,000 in damages, and her lawyers will receive about $3,000 in legal fees under the proposed agreement. The American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado sued on her behalf.
Rodriguez said getting handcuffed, fingerprinted and jailed when she was innocent was demeaning.
“I just couldn’t believe it,” she said Thursday. “I kept thinking, ‘Oh my goodness, how is this happening?’ I’ve never been in jail ever before; I’ve never been arrested.”
A warrant was issued Dec. 22, 2004, seeking the arrest of someone named Valerie Rodriguez in connection with a fight in the Five Points area of Denver between two women with a history of prostitution.
Denver police Officer Timothy Scudder filled out an affidavit seeking the arrest of Rodri guez after he searched a computer database that contained her name, date of birth and Social Security number.
But Rodriguez had no criminal record, had worked at a financial company in Denver for six years and owned a home in Aurora. The true suspect had the same name but a far different history. That woman, known as “Big Val,” had an eight-page rap sheet reflecting numerous arrests and convictions and lived in the Five Points area.
Scudder received a written reprimand after an internal affairs investigation determined he had failed to follow proper procedures.
The Valerie Rodriguez who was gainfully employed and owned a home learned that a warrant was pending for her arrest nine months later, when she applied for a job with the U.S. Postal Service and failed the criminal background check.
When she went to the jail to try to clear up the mistake, she was arrested.
Lawyers who handled the settlement negotiations for the city did not return telephone messages seeking comment. Neither did lawyers representing Scudder.
“Our suspicion is this probably happens more than it should,” said Elisa Moran, a lawyer who handled the case for the ACLU.
Staff writer Christopher N. Osher can be reached at 303-954-1747 or cosher@denverpost.com.
