STILLWATER, Okla. -- District Attorney Tom Lee blames a "secretarial error" for the filing of felony charges against the wrong man.
Dillon Dale Davis, 62, of Marshall, said Payne County court filings posted on the Internet stated Davis was charged with felony drug crimes but, Davis said, he had not committed any crimes nor had he been charged with doing so.
The district attorney's office actually meant to file charges against a different man named Dillon Davis, Lee said Wednesday.
"As soon as we figured that out we filed a dismissal and expungement," Lee said.
Here's how the error occurred: the district attorney's office has an internal database of parties in past cases, such as police officers, attorneys, defendants, witnesses and victims, Lee said. There are two Dillon Davises in the database, Lee said. Secretarial staff searched the name Dillon Davis and found two results, Lee said. The employee clicked the wrong Dillon Davis and added the wrong Davis' identifying information to the new case.
The Dillon Davis of Marshall -- the one the employee selected -- was actually involved in a different case but was never a defendant, Lee said.
"We certainly apologize to the innocent Davis," Lee said.
Late Wednesday, a judge was asked to sign papers expunging the case, Lee said. The case could not be found in online court records Wednesday evening, indicating the case was expunged or removed from court records.
Lee said the correct Dillon Davis was expected to be charged Thursday.
It's not an excuse, Lee said, but "we have a tremendous number of cases that come in. We try to file them before arraignment at 1:30 p.m."
Court Clerk Lisa Lambert also said the process moves fast.
" ... it is a fast paced process every day collecting police reports, coordinating verbal and written information between agencies, filing cases, all choreographed to have charges ready for daily arraignments at 1:30 p.m.," Lambert said. "The district attorney, sheriff, police departments and court clerk office diligently strive for accuracy."
Dillon Davis of Marshall said Wedensday the backlash from the mistake has been "awful.
"It's more like I'm a criminal than I'm not. It's been bad. I wouldn't wish this on anyone," he said.
Marshall is a small town of about 250 people, Davis said, and everyone in town knows him. He found out his name was in the NewsPress Crime Beat, where county felony and misdemeanor court filings are listed, and that charges had been filed naming him when phone calls started pouring in, he said.
Copyright 2012 - Stillwater NewsPress, Okla.
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
