Michigan: Pregnant Woman Sues City Over False Arrest Due to Blundered Facial Recognition

A Michigan woman, Porcha Woodruff, has filed a lawsuit alleging that she was falsely arrested for carjacking while eight months pregnant due to erroneous facial recognition technology, per the NY Post.

In February, Woodruff said she initially thought the police were joking when they arrived to arrest her on robbery and carjacking charges.

Despite her pleas that she was eight months pregnant, the officers informed her about an arrest warrant against her, according to the lawsuit filed in the US District Court in the Eastern District of Michigan.

Feeling scared and confused, Woodruff realized the gravity of the situation when it became evident that the officers were not joking.

She expressed concerns about the lack of empathy or understanding during the arrest.

Woodruff later discovered that she was implicated as a suspect based on a photo lineup shown to the victim, which allegedly resulted from an unreliable facial recognition match.

As a result of the distressing incident, Woodruff has taken legal action against the city and Detective LaShauntia Oliver, who led the investigation.

Blundered Facial Recognition

The situation surrounding the Michigan woman's false arrest becomes more complex as additional details emerge from the lawsuit.

The victim had identified Woodruff from a photo lineup as the female accomplice involved in a previous robbery and carjacking incident that took place a month earlier, according to the Daily News.

However, crucial information that could have helped differentiate Woodruff from the suspect was reportedly overlooked during the investigation.

The police did not ask the victim whether the woman involved was pregnant, even though he had sexual contact with her before the incident.

Moreover, the photo used in the lineup was a 10-year-old picture of Woodruff from a prior arrest rather than her current driver's license photo, which was available to them.

Despite efforts by Woodruff's fiancé, the police refused to check the arrest warrant for any mention of the suspect being pregnant.

Additionally, they neglected to show Woodruff's photo to the male accomplice, who was apprehended shortly after the robbery, which could have provided corroboration.

As a result of her false arrest, Woodruff endured 11 hours in police detention, during which she received inadequate sustenance, suffering from cramps and contractions.

After her release on a $100,000 bond, she had to seek medical attention immediately, and two bags of IV fluids were administered to her due to the contractions she experienced.

Michigan Woman's False Arrest Due to Faulty Facial Recognition Was Not the First

Porcha Woodruff's case sheds light on a concerning pattern of false accusations resulting from the use of facial recognition technology by the police.

She is the sixth person to come forward with claims of being falsely accused of a crime due to the flawed use of facial recognition technology, and notably, all six individuals have been Black, the NY Times noted.

The Michigan woman's case marks the first instance of a woman experiencing such a false accusation.

The Detroit Police Department has been involved in three of these cases, with the technology reportedly being used predominantly on Black men, averaging about 125 facial recognition searches per year.

The weekly reports about the technology's usage provided to Detroit's Board of Police Commissioners, a civilian oversight group, have raised concerns among critics.

They argue that these cases expose the weaknesses of facial recognition technology and the potential dangers it poses to innocent individuals.

Experts in the field, like Clare Garvie from the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, have pointed out that the Detroit Police Department should be aware of the risks associated with facial recognition technology.

Despite this knowledge, the department continues to utilize the technology, leading to these troubling incidents of false accusations against innocent individuals.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Bert Hoover

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