- Joined
- Aug 2, 2012
- Messages
- 12,197
- Reaction score
- 3,271
I've been in county jail, a few times. If this happened, it's an absolute anomaly.
Law 61 year old Texas grandfather wrongly IDed for robbery by AI, gaoled for about a fortnight and gang raped, leaving permanent injuries.
- Thread starter 650lb Sumo
- Start date
- Joined
- Mar 23, 2020
- Messages
- 18,131
- Reaction score
- 18,169
i agree but not in any way even remotely impossible. shit happens.
- Joined
- Dec 3, 2010
- Messages
- 24,530
- Reaction score
- 48,129
I was wondering when this story was going to make it here. This happened in Harris County Jail, Houston. I never knew getting raped in county was a thing.
if i'm ever that hurting for 10 million dollars i might just consider flying to houston and stealing some sunglasses.
every man has a price.
i mean sure my dignity would be out the window, but i can't exactly walk into the bank with just my dignity and purchase a house. 10 million could go a long way. might be worth going gay for the stay!
- Joined
- Feb 10, 2009
- Messages
- 54,943
- Reaction score
- 35,316
He's suing for $10 million.
Man wrongly ID'd as Sunglass Hut thief by facial recognition RAPED
Harvey Eugene Murphy, Jr., is suing the parent company of Sunglass Hut after he was falsely identified as a suspect and left with permanent injuries from a brutal gang rape.www.dailymail.co.uk
Facial recognition used after Sunglass Hut robbery led to man’s wrongful jailing, says suit
Harvey Eugene Murphy Jr’s lawsuit claims he was misidentified as culprit of armed robbery and put in jail, where he says he was rapedwww.theguardian.com
A Texas man is suing the parent company of Sunglass Hut after he was falsely identified as the suspect in a robbery and thrown in jail to be gang-raped by three other men and left with permanent injuries.
Harvey Eugene Murphy, Jr., 61, is suing the parent company of Sunglass Hut, EssilorLuxottica USA, as well as several others. He seeks $10 million in damages.
Murphy, a grandfather who grew up in Texas, was in Sacramento, California when two armed men stormed into the Sunglass Hut on West Gray in Houston.
The suspect demanded all the money in the store while his companion grabbed armfuls of sunglasses. Stites and Bonilla were forced into the back storeroom and ordered to stay there until the robbers left.
Houston Police Department questioned the employees at the scene and reviewed security footage, finding video of the getaway vehicle.
Police tracked down the owner of the vehicle's license plates and confirmed they were stolen ten days before the robbery.
During the investigation officers received a call from Anthony Pfleger,
the head of loss prevention for EssilorLuxottica. Pfleger said he worked with Macy’s loss prevention to determine that the person who robbed the store was Murphy.
'Using artificial intelligence and facial recognition software, EssilorLuxottica and Macy’s took the video from the robbery and determined that Murphy was the robber,' the lawsuit states. 'The video was recorded by Kimco’s poor low-quality cameras.'
HPD visited the Sunglass Hut and asked to conduct a photo lineup with the employees. However, EssilorLuxottica only allowed HPD to present the photo lineup to Bonilla and refused to make Stites available, the suit claims.
It further alleges that the company had 'already prepped Bonilla' to identify Murphy as the man who threatened her life.
Murphy was living in the city of Gonzales when a warrant was issued for his arrest, having moved back from California for work. He visited the DMV when his driving license expired and was taken into custody.
'Obviously, Murphy was confused because - as he repeatedly told HPD - he had not done anything wrong for many years,' the lawsuit reads.
The suit acknowledges that Murphy had a lengthy criminal past, but his lawyers contend this was for 'non-violent burglaries' committed in his twenties, a period he spent in and out of jail.
'Murphy began working full time and going to church. He worked in the prison ministry, helping people to change their lives the way he did,' the lawsuit states. 'So, when Murphy was arrested at the DMV he had no idea what was going on.'
...[H]e was arrested and taken to the local county jail, where he was held for 10 days before being transferred to and processed in Harris county jail.
After a few days at Harris county, his alibi was confirmed by both his court-appointed defense attorney and the prosecutor, and the charges against him were ultimately dropped, according to the lawsuit.
Murphy was arraigned after being transferred to Harris County and the District Attorney’s office asked the Judge to keep him incarcerated without bond.
Only at his hearing did Murphy finally learn what he was being charged in connection with, according to the lawsuit.
After he was booked into a maximum-security jail, the 61-year-old was followed into the bathroom by three criminals who brutally beat him, forced him onto the ground and gang-raped him.
Following the attack, one of the assailants held a shank to Murphy's neck and threatened to murder him if he reported the assault to anyone.
The charges against him were dropped hours later and he was freed.
His lawyers contend he was left with permanent injuries 'that he has to live with every day of his life.'
Citing research by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the Texas man's legal team argue that EssilorLuxottica and Macy’s 'knew that there was an error rate of almost 90%' when facial recognition technology attempts 'to match a subject’s face to photographs taken more than 18 years before.'
Furthermore, using Murphy's mugshot, taken decades ago in the '80s, would make the facial recognition comparison 'error prone and faulty.'
The suit alleges malicious prosecution, false imprisonment, negligence and gross negligence.
Murphy is seeking compensation for past and future medical expenses, mental anguish, and lost wages and future lost wage-earning capacity.
In addition to Luxxotica, others named in the lawsuit include the Sunglass Hut employees, Stites and Bonilla; EssilorLuxottica's head of prevention, Thomas Pfleger; Macy's, Inc.; and Kimco Realty Corporation, which owns the cameras.
Edit: Upon perusing other articles it appears Murphy was held in the local gaol for ten days before being transferred to Harris County Gaol. He was attacked after a few days there, and released a few hours after that.
Poor bastard deserves more than $10 million.
- Joined
- Nov 26, 2003
- Messages
- 9,663
- Reaction score
- 7,800
He should get more IMO. Sunglass Hut has insurance.
- Joined
- Dec 14, 2020
- Messages
- 2,592
- Reaction score
- 3,401
I hate frivolous lawsuits.
But this guy definitely deserves his 10 million.
But this guy definitely deserves his 10 million.
- Joined
- Feb 10, 2009
- Messages
- 54,943
- Reaction score
- 35,316
Have you watched Mr Bates vs the Post Office? Half way through the first episode I wanted to burn Royal Mail HQ to the ground and piss on the ashes.
- Joined
- Sep 21, 2009
- Messages
- 13,876
- Reaction score
- 11,777
Should sue the county, the DA, the AI vendor, and everyone else.
Also should be allowed to cave his rapers heads in with a bat.
Also should be allowed to cave his rapers heads in with a bat.
- Joined
- Jan 20, 2016
- Messages
- 11,797
- Reaction score
- 13,335
Harris County jail has been in the news often, lots of crazy shit go down there. People dying left and right, correctional officers beating up inmates, an inmate managed to rape a CO, it's insane. About 30 inmates die there every year, including from stabbings and blunt force trauma, and in 2023 the FBI started an investigation over it. The families typically don't know how their loved ones died. The jail is overcrowded and understaffed. If they don't care about people dying, I doubt they care about rape. It's basically a very dysfunctional jail so it's not too hard to believe.
- Joined
- Aug 25, 2021
- Messages
- 6,922
- Reaction score
- 16,009
It seems Harris is worse than average (apparently it's also one of the three biggest in the country).
Harris County Jail: 'Place of Torment and Punishment'
The Harris County Jail system is also no stranger to lawsuits. The system has been sued more than 50 times by inmates and their families—many of those lawsuits filed under the watch of current Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzales, who is ultimately responsible for running a safe, humane facility.
Gonzales’s operation of the jail, which has historically had a reputation as one of the worst in the nation, has frequently been the target of the Texas Commission on Jail Standards for refusing to comply with state laws governing jail standards. The Commission has deemed the sheriff’s office noncompliant with multiple state safety codes in the past year. Regulators have reprimanded the agency for failing to comply with state standards regarding medical care, monitoring of incarcerated people, processing of detainees and minimum staffing.
Of particular concern and criticism by the Commission are the 28 inmates who perished last year and the eleven (five of whom had mental illness) who have died so far this year in what some call a 'place of torment and punishment.'
One of the inmates who died in Harris County Jail was beaten to death by a fellow prisoner in March 2022. Another of the inmates who died was, according to the family of the victim, beaten to death by jail guards. The FBI is currently investigating that death.
The Harris County Jail system is also no stranger to lawsuits. The system has been sued more than 50 times by inmates and their families—many of those lawsuits filed under the watch of current Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzales, who is ultimately responsible for running a safe, humane facility.
Gonzales’s operation of the jail, which has historically had a reputation as one of the worst in the nation, has frequently been the target of the Texas Commission on Jail Standards for refusing to comply with state laws governing jail standards. The Commission has deemed the sheriff’s office noncompliant with multiple state safety codes in the past year. Regulators have reprimanded the agency for failing to comply with state standards regarding medical care, monitoring of incarcerated people, processing of detainees and minimum staffing.
Of particular concern and criticism by the Commission are the 28 inmates who perished last year and the eleven (five of whom had mental illness) who have died so far this year in what some call a 'place of torment and punishment.'
One of the inmates who died in Harris County Jail was beaten to death by a fellow prisoner in March 2022. Another of the inmates who died was, according to the family of the victim, beaten to death by jail guards. The FBI is currently investigating that death.
'It Smells of Despair': What’s Going On Inside the Harris County Jail?
In the fall, the commission sent a notice of noncompliance to Harris County and its sheriff’s office, demanding improvements in conditions and prompting a state investigation. Sheriff Ed Gonzalez responded with a list of corrective measures that included outsourcing more inmates to other jails and decreasing wait time for inmates with medical issues. To date, the county has spent $9 million in taxpayer funding to house inmates in jails in Louisiana, and will soon spend as much as $26 million to outsource more of them to facilities in North Texas.
In the fall, the commission sent a notice of noncompliance to Harris County and its sheriff’s office, demanding improvements in conditions and prompting a state investigation. Sheriff Ed Gonzalez responded with a list of corrective measures that included outsourcing more inmates to other jails and decreasing wait time for inmates with medical issues. To date, the county has spent $9 million in taxpayer funding to house inmates in jails in Louisiana, and will soon spend as much as $26 million to outsource more of them to facilities in North Texas.
County officials have created a ‘culture of death’ inside the Harris County Jail, lawsuit alleges
A group of families and formerly incarcerated people filed a federal lawsuit against Harris County accusing the county of failing to provide adequate medical care while perpetuating a culture of abuse and violence within the Harris County Jail.
The lawsuit, which was filed Monday on behalf of the families of nine people who died in the jail along with 13 formerly incarcerated people, blasted the Harris County Sheriff’s Office for creating a 'culture of death' inside the jail, allowing the troubled facility to 'become a place of torment and punishment.'
'This pattern does not end with simply those who lost their lives but extends to each of those individuals who have suffered needless and numerous beatings, lack of medical attention, and whose cries for help were silenced by their captors,' the lawsuit read. 'These individuals deserve humanity, and they deserve life.'
A group of families and formerly incarcerated people filed a federal lawsuit against Harris County accusing the county of failing to provide adequate medical care while perpetuating a culture of abuse and violence within the Harris County Jail.
The lawsuit, which was filed Monday on behalf of the families of nine people who died in the jail along with 13 formerly incarcerated people, blasted the Harris County Sheriff’s Office for creating a 'culture of death' inside the jail, allowing the troubled facility to 'become a place of torment and punishment.'
'This pattern does not end with simply those who lost their lives but extends to each of those individuals who have suffered needless and numerous beatings, lack of medical attention, and whose cries for help were silenced by their captors,' the lawsuit read. 'These individuals deserve humanity, and they deserve life.'
Why do people keep dying in Harris County Jail?
Like all teenagers, Fred Harris longed for freedom. At 18, he was small: 5 feet tall, 98 pounds. He also acted much younger than his age, which meant other kids bullied him. His mother, Dallas Garcia, told The Appeal and Type Investigations, “[He] didn’t understand, like, just extremely how different he was.”
On the afternoon of the 10th of October 2021 Harris walked down the middle of a busy avenue in the Montrose neighborhood of Houston. According to a charging document, he was holding a knife. Garcia said that she didn’t think her son owned a knife and that she couldn’t believe he intended to hurt anyone. Onlookers called the police, who arrested Harris. On the 12th of October Magistrate Diane Olivera set the bail at $20,000. In denying Bay’s request for higher bail, she noted that Harris had 'no convictions, no crimes of violence, no injuries to anyone.' Harris signed his name 'Fred' in awkward print letters on court documents.
When Garcia learned that her son was in jail, she was initially relieved just to know that he was somewhere safe.
On the 29th of October, according to the sheriff’s office, deputies placed Harris in a holding cell with a 25-year-old man named Michael Paul Ownby, who had recently admitted to attacking a guard and was awaiting trial on domestic violence charges. Ownby was more than twice Harris’s size.
According to eyewitness accounts, incident reports, and a lawsuit Harris’s family later filed against the jail, less than an hour after they were placed in the cell together, Ownby smashed Harris’s head into the concrete floor, kicked him in the head, and used a sharpened utensil to stab him repeatedly. Harris, unconscious and severely brain damaged, was sent to Ben Taub Hospital.
Garcia went to the hospital to see her son. She says it was immediately clear that this was no ordinary fight. “Injured wasn’t even the word for it,” she said. “It was like he had no bones in his face standing.”
That night, Garcia signed off on donating her son’s organs, including his heart, and ended his life.
Fred Harris was killed in one of the deadliest jails in Texas. Since the start of 2021, more than 50 people have died in the Harris County Jail: 21 in 2021, 28 in 2022, and four so far this year.
At this point, even the people who work at the jail agree that the facility is not safe. In December 2021, just two months after Fred Harris was killed, a female sergeant was raped in her office by a prisoner.
She said that most people booked into the jail are jumped soon after they enter and extorted for their possessions and money. One man, she said, was assaulted by his cellmates; he emerged with a broken pelvis and blind in one eye. She had heard that a woman had given birth alone in her cell and had to bite off the umbilical cord. The deputy on duty was wearing earphones and didn’t hear her cries.
Like all teenagers, Fred Harris longed for freedom. At 18, he was small: 5 feet tall, 98 pounds. He also acted much younger than his age, which meant other kids bullied him. His mother, Dallas Garcia, told The Appeal and Type Investigations, “[He] didn’t understand, like, just extremely how different he was.”
On the afternoon of the 10th of October 2021 Harris walked down the middle of a busy avenue in the Montrose neighborhood of Houston. According to a charging document, he was holding a knife. Garcia said that she didn’t think her son owned a knife and that she couldn’t believe he intended to hurt anyone. Onlookers called the police, who arrested Harris. On the 12th of October Magistrate Diane Olivera set the bail at $20,000. In denying Bay’s request for higher bail, she noted that Harris had 'no convictions, no crimes of violence, no injuries to anyone.' Harris signed his name 'Fred' in awkward print letters on court documents.
When Garcia learned that her son was in jail, she was initially relieved just to know that he was somewhere safe.
On the 29th of October, according to the sheriff’s office, deputies placed Harris in a holding cell with a 25-year-old man named Michael Paul Ownby, who had recently admitted to attacking a guard and was awaiting trial on domestic violence charges. Ownby was more than twice Harris’s size.
According to eyewitness accounts, incident reports, and a lawsuit Harris’s family later filed against the jail, less than an hour after they were placed in the cell together, Ownby smashed Harris’s head into the concrete floor, kicked him in the head, and used a sharpened utensil to stab him repeatedly. Harris, unconscious and severely brain damaged, was sent to Ben Taub Hospital.
Garcia went to the hospital to see her son. She says it was immediately clear that this was no ordinary fight. “Injured wasn’t even the word for it,” she said. “It was like he had no bones in his face standing.”
That night, Garcia signed off on donating her son’s organs, including his heart, and ended his life.
Fred Harris was killed in one of the deadliest jails in Texas. Since the start of 2021, more than 50 people have died in the Harris County Jail: 21 in 2021, 28 in 2022, and four so far this year.
At this point, even the people who work at the jail agree that the facility is not safe. In December 2021, just two months after Fred Harris was killed, a female sergeant was raped in her office by a prisoner.
She said that most people booked into the jail are jumped soon after they enter and extorted for their possessions and money. One man, she said, was assaulted by his cellmates; he emerged with a broken pelvis and blind in one eye. She had heard that a woman had given birth alone in her cell and had to bite off the umbilical cord. The deputy on duty was wearing earphones and didn’t hear her cries.
Harris County Jail Violence is Surging - How the System is Failing Detainees
The first time Fay saw her 30-something-year-old son Jack since he was booked into Harris County Jail, he limped into the visitation area on crutches, carrying his own catheter bag in hand.
Jack had been booked into Harris County Jail for alleged felony drug possession on the 6th of June. Five days later... he was admitted into Ben Taub Hospital with a host of life-threatening injuries as the result of a brutal assault that occurred in the jail.
That evening of the 20th, Fay listened as Jack recounted his injuries - a fractured skull and broken spine - and the few details he could recall from the attack that had left him incontinent and at death’s door.
"I kept asking him who did this, and he said he didn't remember anything at all," Fay told Chron.
Jack’s account of his injuries was accurate, but far from complete: In addition to multiple skull fractures and brain haemorrhages, Jack sustained an array of severe and immediately life-threatening injuries following the assault, according to medical records obtained by Chron.
The alleged assault left Jack with a fractured skull, brain hemorrhaging and multiple facial fractures. A third-party Houston medical expert who chose to remain anonymous told Chron that 'for someone to have something that can both fracture the skull and also cause brain bleeding, it has to be a really severe mechanism of injury.'
Jack was discharged from the hospital and returned to Harris County Jail on the 14th of June, with doctors noting he was 'neurologically well-appearing but at risk for deterioration given injury pattern.'
Just two days later, however, Jack was rushed back to Ben Taub after losing strength and feeling in his right leg and experiencing faecal incontinence. An MRI revealed an epidural haematoma in Jack's lumbar spine - meaning Jack was bleeding into his spinal canal.
The first time Fay saw her 30-something-year-old son Jack since he was booked into Harris County Jail, he limped into the visitation area on crutches, carrying his own catheter bag in hand.
Jack had been booked into Harris County Jail for alleged felony drug possession on the 6th of June. Five days later... he was admitted into Ben Taub Hospital with a host of life-threatening injuries as the result of a brutal assault that occurred in the jail.
That evening of the 20th, Fay listened as Jack recounted his injuries - a fractured skull and broken spine - and the few details he could recall from the attack that had left him incontinent and at death’s door.
"I kept asking him who did this, and he said he didn't remember anything at all," Fay told Chron.
Jack’s account of his injuries was accurate, but far from complete: In addition to multiple skull fractures and brain haemorrhages, Jack sustained an array of severe and immediately life-threatening injuries following the assault, according to medical records obtained by Chron.
The alleged assault left Jack with a fractured skull, brain hemorrhaging and multiple facial fractures. A third-party Houston medical expert who chose to remain anonymous told Chron that 'for someone to have something that can both fracture the skull and also cause brain bleeding, it has to be a really severe mechanism of injury.'
Jack was discharged from the hospital and returned to Harris County Jail on the 14th of June, with doctors noting he was 'neurologically well-appearing but at risk for deterioration given injury pattern.'
Just two days later, however, Jack was rushed back to Ben Taub after losing strength and feeling in his right leg and experiencing faecal incontinence. An MRI revealed an epidural haematoma in Jack's lumbar spine - meaning Jack was bleeding into his spinal canal.
/
I've heard people say prison is for real, gaol is a joke but that doesn't seem to be the case here.
- Joined
- Jul 8, 2021
- Messages
- 26,099
- Reaction score
- 53,153
Have you watched Mr Bates vs the Post Office? Half way through the first episode I wanted to burn Royal Mail HQ to the ground and piss on the ashes.
Not yet mate, but I have it lined up.
- Joined
- Feb 10, 2009
- Messages
- 54,943
- Reaction score
- 35,316
Highly recommended. Superb performances across the board, especially from Toby Jones as Bates and Monica Dolan as Jo. Not an easy watch; I'm as cynical a bastard as ever walked beneath the sky, and even I had to wipe my eyes after some scenes.
The series has had the effect of bringing the whole sordid mess to the public's attention, and the politicians are jumping on the bandwagon. Which in this case is a good thing, as it means the Royal Mail can't drag out proceedings in the hope the sub-postmasters who's lives they destroyed run out of time or money to fight them.
- Joined
- Apr 12, 2007
- Messages
- 76,145
- Reaction score
- 16,089
he probably has a phat ass
- Joined
- Jul 8, 2021
- Messages
- 26,099
- Reaction score
- 53,153
Quite a few people have told me it's a must watch.
It's gonna be a tough one, having to sit through that level of chronic unfairness...
- Joined
- Dec 16, 2015
- Messages
- 8,504
- Reaction score
- 2,876
Something seems off about this story
Not sure if I’m buying it
Not sure if I’m buying it
- Joined
- Feb 10, 2009
- Messages
- 54,943
- Reaction score
- 35,316
Made my blood boil, mate. Perfectly summed up by Toby Jones in one scene,
"We're fighting a war against an enemy owned by the British Government. And we're just skint little people".
People who were wrongly accused lost their businesses and their homes, were jailed for crimes they didn't commit and in some cases were even driven to suicide. It's bloody heart breaking to watch at times.
