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Lawsuit: Arrest wrong, racial
By Jeff Kass, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)
Saturday, December 22, 2007
Bradley Braxton says he was congratulated for finishing out his DUI probation when he showed up in Denver County Court on July 19.
Then Denver sheriff's deputies wrongfully arrested him on a sex assault charge, according to a lawsuit filed Friday in U.S. District Court. He said he spent nine days in jail on the charge.
Braxton's suit says the suspect listed in the sex case was a white, 26-year-old man. Braxton, 36, is black.
"Right then and there, I knew it (the sex assault charge) was false," Braxton said Friday.
The city issued a brief statement Friday saying, "The City Attorney's Office has reviewed Mr. Braxton's claim and is working to resolve it with him. We hope and expect to reach an agreement with him."
Braxton said his name and the name of the man wanted in the sex case are different, as are their initials.
When asked whether he had ever seen such a mix up before, Denver defense attorney Larry Pozner said that, if true, "This would be off the charts."
And that was not the only problematic arrest on July 19, Braxton alleges.
Braxton, an Aurora father of two who admits to a lengthy record including prison time for cocaine possession, says he was first told he was being arrested for an outstanding warrant in a 1995 case. Court records show he pleaded guilty to assault in that case, and was given probation, but also that a warrant for failure to appear was issued in 1997.
Court records also show the warrant was ordered canceled the same day, July 19, that Braxton was arrested on it.
Braxton was in Denver city jail waiting for the issue with the canceled warrant to be cleared up when sheriff's deputies then told him he was also being held in the sex assault case, according to the lawsuit.
State and federal law require that a defendant "be taken before the first available judicial officer," the lawsuit adds. Braxton was arrested on a Thursday; he was taken to court on Monday on the 1995 warrant "where it was discovered that the warrant . . . was a mistake. [The case] was then dismissed," according to the suit.
Braxton next was taken to Denver County Jail on the 2007 sex assault case, according to the lawsuit, and he submitted two forms saying he was wrongfully arrested.
Braxton did not appear before a judge on the sex assault case and was released on Friday, July 27.
Braxton's attorney, Gregory Graf, said he believes the whole mess may have begun with a clerical error, but it continued because Braxton is black. Graf alleges in the lawsuit that other inmates are similarly treated, but has gathered only anecdotal proof.
Braxton says he lost his job with a lawn service company because of his stay in jail, and is now working as a fork lift driver.
Among the last words he says he overheard from sheriff's deputies were, "Captain, he doesn't look like a white guy to me."
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