On October 22, 2016, a police officer in Simi Valley, California stopped a vehicle after seeing it drive into a curb. The driver, who was not carrying his driver’s license, identified himself as 22-year-old Jerry Hurley and gave his birthdate. After a blood alcohol test showed his blood alcohol level to be .11—.03 over the legal limit of .08—Hurley was ticketed for drunk driving. On March 24, 2017, Hurley pled guilty in Ventura County and was sentenced to four days of work release. His driver’s license was suspended.
In fact, the driver of the car was not Jerry Hurley, but Hurley’s 25-year-old brother, Daniel. Daniel falsely gave his brother’s name and date of birth when he was arrested.
In 2017, the real Jerry Hurley—who was unaware that his brother had been arrested for drunk driving and had pled guilty under his name—was stopped by a state police officer in Nevada for a traffic violation. The officer informed Hurley that his driver’s license was suspended and that he had to arrange for someone to come get him.
About a month later, Daniel Hurley admitted to Jerry what he had done. In July, their mother came to court and reported what had occurred. The case was referred to the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office conviction integrity unit.
During the investigation, police compared the brothers’ fingerprints to the fingerprints taken on the day of the original arrest. They determined that Daniel—not Jerry—had been booked into the Ventura County Jail. The booking photo—which was listed as that of Jerry—was in fact a photograph of Daniel.
The prosecution filed a motion requesting that Jerry be declared factually innocent, and that Jerry’s name be removed from the case and replaced with Daniel’s name. On September 28, 2017, the motion was granted.
– Maurice Possley
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