A Hubbard resident is suing Marion County for mistakenly blaming him for a crime, leading to his arrest, despite a deputy getting an in-person confession from the actual culprit.
Christian Espinoza is seeking $100,000 in a suit filed July 24 in Marion County Circuit Court. The 26-year-old said every vital fact about him — his birthday, his height, his home address and the colors of his hair and eyes — appeared on the ticket for the crime he didn’t commit.
Espinoza said in his suit that police stopped him on Sept. 20, five weeks after someone damaged property at a Marion County car wash, and arrested him on a warrant while his “friends, family and community members drove by.”
According to the lawsuit, Marion County Deputy Caleb Mott investigated the crime, including acquiring surveillance footage, and ultimately tracked down a man named Christopher Espinoza – who confessed.
“Rather than arrest Christopher Espinoza and have him booked, fingerprinted and photographed, Deputy Mott issued Christopher Espinoza a citation to appear in court on September 10, 2018,” the lawsuit said.
But the citation somehow included all of Christian Espinoza’s vitals. When nobody appeared in court that day, the court issued a warrant for Christian Espinoza’s arrest.
Court records show the courts dismissed the case against Christian Espinoza three months later. The Marion County District Attorney cited “further investigation reveals it would be in the interest of justice that said action be dismissed.”
Jesse Merrithew, Christian Espinoza’s attorney, said he isn’t sure how the citation went wrong.
“I assume there’s some sort of auto-fill function,” he said. “That’s what I’m guessing happened, but I don’t know.”
The two-page police report Mott filed after issuing the citation also refers to the perpetrator at Christian Espinoza.
Christian Espinoza was convicted of driving under the influence six years ago, according to court records, but no other offenses in the last five years. Merrithew said his client today sells insurance.
Merrithew said attempts to settle with Marion County before filing in court had no resolution. He said they are seeking damages now because, in the age of the internet, his client’s reputation is at stake.
“Searching people’s name, along with a little bit of location data, is the primary way of figuring out a little bit of background about a person that we’re going to work with, that we’re thinking about dating, about people we’re going to interact with in any way,” he said. “If the first thing that comes up is an article about some arrest, that’s going to be a major problem for a long time.”
Bruce Armstrong, Marion County assistant legal counsel, said the county doesn’t comment on current litigation.
It’s unclear whether Mott, the deputy, faced any repercussions. Merrithew said that’s not a concern.
“An officer making a mistake in the course of his work is not something that requires punishment. It really depends on if it’s part of a pattern, and then you need to rethink if you’ve got the right guy in the job,” he said. “But, knowing only what I know, I wouldn’t suggest punishment of Deputy Mott is necessary. What’s necessary is compensating the guy who was harmed as a result of his mistake.”
According to court records, no charges were ever officially filed against Christopher Espinoza.
Have a tip? Contact reporter Troy Brynelson at 503-575-9930, [email protected] or @TroyWB.
