Louisiana’s Second Circuit
Court of Appeals this morning reversed a district court and held that the
Monroe Police Department falsely arrested, falsely imprisoned, and maliciously
prosecuted Annette Brown in 2009.
The court also awarded her $20
thousand in damages, money that the taxpayers of Monroe will have to pay.
This court concurs with
plaintiff’s argument that because Det. Dowdy’s investigation was substandard,
he failed to perform his duty to correctly identify the suspect prior to her
arrest and incarceration and this was the cause-in-fact of the Ms. Brown’s
wrongful arrest at her place of employment in the presence of her co-workers.
The law imposes a duty on law enforcement officers to correctly identify a
suspect prior to arresting and jailing her specifically in instances such as
these to prevent injuries of the exact nature that Ms. Brown suffered.
The plaintiff attorney in the
case was Anthony Bruscato. Defending was City Attorney Nanci Summersgill.
