Reginald Smith v. County of Los Angeles

Current Revsion Submitted: Wed, 12/07/2022 - 11:16
Submitted by Re'Neisha Stevenson on Wed, 12/07/2022 - 11:12
Description

Plaintiff TWICE arrested on another person’s warrant. First arrest resulted in 6 weeks of incarceration; second arrest resulted in 2 hours in jail. Sheriff’s dept was on notice for years that the warrant was wrongly using Plaintiff’s identifiers, instead of the identifiers for the true defendant, yet Sheriff’s dept kept refusing to update & correct the warrant.

Assessment

There were actually two cases. First filed in 2008, dismissed & affirmed on appeal. Second filed in 2011 & b/c of defendants’ fraud, was able to get around res judicata bar of the 1st lawsuit. Very extensive discovery & litigation over warrant databases, and events going back to 1990 when the warrant originally issued.

State
Docket Number / Citation
Court
Year Filed
Year Resolved
Stage of litigation that case resolved
Total Dollar Amount
650,000
Total Damages
200,000
Attorney's Fees
450,000
Number of Plaintiffs
1
Class Action
No
PLRA Applied
No
Plaintiff Sought Injunctive Relief
No
Wrongful Conviction
No
Excessive Force
No
Fatal Excessive Force
No