Two Pictures of the men at this site.No way they look alike.Notice that they plan on making no changes in their procedure.This would have been so easy to avoid just by listening but I guess they are too busy to listen to anyone. http://www.azcentral.com/news/0802BADBUST02.html
Man clears his name
Wrongful accusation
traced to a misspelling
Beth DeFalco
The Arizona Republic
Aug. 02, 2000
Nearly two years after Mesa
police issued a warrant for his
arrest, Aaron Markley's
nightmare is finally over.
But his long ordeal to prove
police had mistaken him for a drug-deal suspect with a similar name -
Aaron Markey, without the "l" - has left him bitter and ready to sue Mesa
police.
"I believed you were innocent until proven guilt until the day I turned
myself in for a crime I didn't commit," Markley, 28, said Tuesday.
Since 1998, the Arizona State University honor student and father of two
has been telling police that they had the wrong guy, that he never sold
an undercover police officer methamphetamine.
Monday, Markley was vindicated when prosecutors dismissed charges
against him, stating "information received from the Mesa Police
Department leads the state to believe this individual, Aaron S. Markley,
is not the offender of the crime," according to court records. He faced up
to five years in prison, if convicted of those charges.
Police accused Markley of selling drugs to an undercover officer in April
1998 from a trailer in the 200 block of West Southern Avenue.
Records show Markley never lived in a trailer or at the address.
To protect the officer's
identity, police said, an arrest
was not made at the time of
the drug purchase.
Officers returned to the trailer
to make the arrest, but the
suspect was no longer living
there.
So, police went to the
Arizona Motor Vehicle
Division in hopes of finding a
new address. They didn't find
the suspect's name.
But they did find Markley.
The undercover officer saw Aaron Markley's photo, decided he looked
like their man, and filed an arrest warrant even though neighbors near
the trailer had told her the resident had moved back to Ohio, according
to her police report.
Records show Markley has never lived in Ohio.
Markley learned about the warrant in front of his mother and wife when
he tried to make a purchase at a gun show.
"I've never even had a traffic ticket," he said.
Markley didn't know what to do, so he called police.
When they told him to come in to the station in January, he called an
attorney to avoid any trouble.
That's when Markley's nightmare began.
Since January, he has been required to submit drug tests twice a week
and check in with court officials in downtown Phoenix once a week. He
had to drop out of college and moved his family in with his parents to
cover mounting legal bills.
He estimates spending more than $40,000 to date.
Markley fired his first attorney when he told him to accept a plea
bargain, and hired Larry Debus.
Since the charges against Markley were dismissed with prejudice, no
future charges for the drug sale can be filed against him.
"When we absolutely proved they had the wrong man, the police and
prosecutors said it wasn't their duty to set this right," Debus said.
To prove Markley's innocence, his attorney hired private investigator Bob
Owens, who discovered the name mix-up.
Police have refused to outright admit that a typo was responsible and
say that no disciplinary action has been taken against anyone in the
investigation. They have never had a similar problem and have no
immediate plans to change procedures, said Earle Lloyd, a Mesa police
spokesman.
"We are a police department. We do know how to do an investigation
despite what Markley's attorney and his investigator say," he said. "We
are not the incompetent boobs they think we are."
However, Lloyd did confirm the department is "strongly" considering
taking a trip to Ohio to look at a man named Aaron Markey.
Reach the reporter at beth.defalco@arizonarepublic.com or (602)
444-7972.
Man clears his name
Wrongful accusation
traced to a misspelling
Beth DeFalco
The Arizona Republic
Aug. 02, 2000
Nearly two years after Mesa
police issued a warrant for his
arrest, Aaron Markley's
nightmare is finally over.
But his long ordeal to prove
police had mistaken him for a drug-deal suspect with a similar name -
Aaron Markey, without the "l" - has left him bitter and ready to sue Mesa
police.
"I believed you were innocent until proven guilt until the day I turned
myself in for a crime I didn't commit," Markley, 28, said Tuesday.
Since 1998, the Arizona State University honor student and father of two
has been telling police that they had the wrong guy, that he never sold
an undercover police officer methamphetamine.
Monday, Markley was vindicated when prosecutors dismissed charges
against him, stating "information received from the Mesa Police
Department leads the state to believe this individual, Aaron S. Markley,
is not the offender of the crime," according to court records. He faced up
to five years in prison, if convicted of those charges.
Police accused Markley of selling drugs to an undercover officer in April
1998 from a trailer in the 200 block of West Southern Avenue.
Records show Markley never lived in a trailer or at the address.
To protect the officer's
identity, police said, an arrest
was not made at the time of
the drug purchase.
Officers returned to the trailer
to make the arrest, but the
suspect was no longer living
there.
So, police went to the
Arizona Motor Vehicle
Division in hopes of finding a
new address. They didn't find
the suspect's name.
But they did find Markley.
The undercover officer saw Aaron Markley's photo, decided he looked
like their man, and filed an arrest warrant even though neighbors near
the trailer had told her the resident had moved back to Ohio, according
to her police report.
Records show Markley has never lived in Ohio.
Markley learned about the warrant in front of his mother and wife when
he tried to make a purchase at a gun show.
"I've never even had a traffic ticket," he said.
Markley didn't know what to do, so he called police.
When they told him to come in to the station in January, he called an
attorney to avoid any trouble.
That's when Markley's nightmare began.
Since January, he has been required to submit drug tests twice a week
and check in with court officials in downtown Phoenix once a week. He
had to drop out of college and moved his family in with his parents to
cover mounting legal bills.
He estimates spending more than $40,000 to date.
Markley fired his first attorney when he told him to accept a plea
bargain, and hired Larry Debus.
Since the charges against Markley were dismissed with prejudice, no
future charges for the drug sale can be filed against him.
"When we absolutely proved they had the wrong man, the police and
prosecutors said it wasn't their duty to set this right," Debus said.
To prove Markley's innocence, his attorney hired private investigator Bob
Owens, who discovered the name mix-up.
Police have refused to outright admit that a typo was responsible and
say that no disciplinary action has been taken against anyone in the
investigation. They have never had a similar problem and have no
immediate plans to change procedures, said Earle Lloyd, a Mesa police
spokesman.
"We are a police department. We do know how to do an investigation
despite what Markley's attorney and his investigator say," he said. "We
are not the incompetent boobs they think we are."
However, Lloyd did confirm the department is "strongly" considering
taking a trip to Ohio to look at a man named Aaron Markey.
Reach the reporter at beth.defalco@arizonarepublic.com or (602)
444-7972.