Ooops! Our Bad!

This nice lady is Jeannette Garrett, a disabled Foley, Alabama stroke victim.  She is unable to talk and she has been wheelchair bound since 2001.  In 2003, a sheriff's deputy testified to a Grand Jury that this woman sold crack cocaine to two undercover officers, a warrant issued and Ms. Garrett was arrested, and jailed.  Her disability benefits were taken from her.  It wasn't until 2005 that authorities owned up to the gross error and charges were dismissed.

Mobile, Alabama US District Judge William Steele ruled in favor of the three officers involved in the mis-identification, arrest and prosecution of Ms. Garrett, dismissing Ms. Garrett's civil lawsuit.  Judge Steele while expressing outrage over the process that ensnared this poor woman nonetheless held the three officers were entitled to immunity from a civil lawsuit.

Sometimes there is no remedy, even when gross errors are perpetrated by persons who have a duty to know better.  For more:  http://blog.al.com/live/2009/12/court_rules_for_officers_who_a.html