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Arrested, cleared, and all set to sue
A Tampa man will take his wrongful arrest case to court.
By THOMAS LAKE
Published June 23, 2007
Tallie Gainer III was charged last year with check fraud after a botched investigation. Five months later, he was exonerated by a fingerprint that had been in the case file since the beginning. Now he plans to sue for wrongful arrest.
Gainer, a 29-year-old Tampa resident, filed a notice of intent to sue this week with the Pasco County Sheriff's Office and the Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney's Office.
His attorney, John Trevena, said he hopes for a judgment - perhaps in the millions - that will send authorities a message: "This type of incompetence, this type of gross negligence, will not be tolerated."
Last Aug. 1, Gainer was eating dinner with his children at the Denny's on E Hillsborough Avenue when he left his wallet, which contained credit cards and his driver's license, at the cash register. Someone stole it.
Nine days later, a man brought the ID to a bank in Port Richey and, posing as Gainer, tried to pass a fraudulent check.
Before he fled the bank, the con man left a well-defined fingerprint on the front of the check. But because of a series of investigative miscues, no one compared the print to Gainer's until late in April, more than five months after his arrest.
By then the ordeal had cost him perhaps $60, 000 and the chance to bid for a Jackson Heights coin laundry that he hoped would become a family business.
The notice of intent to sue triggers a six-month time window in which the authorities can decide whether or not to offer a settlement. It was unclear Friday how they would respond.
Kevin Doll, a spokesman for Sheriff Bob White, said the agency would have no comment.
But Doll did address another document filed by Gainer's lawyer this week: a request for administrative expunction - or the purging of Gainer's arrest record. Before last November, his record was clean. Doll said the agency filed the paperwork weeks ago, just after Gainer's story appeared on the front page of the St. Petersburg Times, and now the wheels are in motion.
"Although the arrest, on its surface, was a good arrest, " Doll said, "we did arrest the wrong person."
Thomas Lake can be reached at tlake@sptimes.com or toll-free at 1-800-333-7505, ext. 6245.
[Last modified June 22, 2007, 23:52:45]
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by Bill
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06/29/07 10:23 PM
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Mr. Trevena was my trial laywer who prevailed in my difficult case. He provided the very best legal representation. Mr. Trevena has an outstanding command of the law and legal system. I highly recommend him to any person with complex legal problems.
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by Righteous Indignation
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06/24/07 11:27 AM
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Jeff and Joe -- Have you got a thing or two to learn about the law. What a couple of morons you are. Oh wait, you're probably with the Pasco County sheriff's office. Of course.
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by Bruce
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06/23/07 11:23 PM
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"Although the arrest, on its surface, was a good arrest, " Doll said, "we did arrest the wrong person.".....as long as the cops put somebody in the clink, right or wrong. It makes the arrest statistics beancounters happy. Sue until they scream.
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by David
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06/23/07 07:38 PM
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"Although the arrest, on its surface, was a good arrest, " Doll said, "we did arrest the wrong person." After all this the idiot sheriff still has the gumption to say this, that right there tells me that there are many more problems to come from them
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by joe
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06/23/07 05:43 PM
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maybe he should keep a better eye on his wallet. Millions? Greedy and unnecessary.
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by sim
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06/23/07 03:18 PM
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There is no "probable cause" for a prosecution when standard investigative procedures aren't followed. "Probable cause" indeed. "Although the arrest, on its surface, was a good arrest,we did arrest the wrong person." That's a real keeper.
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by Doug
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06/23/07 03:00 PM
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Identity theft is a very serious problem in ruining people's lives. Time for retina scans? Hope they don't steal my eyeballs too. Or fingers to get prints.
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by Barry
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06/23/07 02:33 PM
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Compensatory might be affected by sovereign immunity but punitive damages are not capped yet are highly likely in the face of such gross negligence. Thus, the department will settle with the plaintiff in order to escape the millions in punitive fees
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by Titan
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06/23/07 02:13 PM
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Ha ha! Pasco county sheriff's deputies are morons!
Maybe you guys need a new sheriff.
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by Alex
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06/23/07 10:54 AM
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Doesnt sound to me like the arrest was the problem here. Read the full story posted a few weeks ago. So many mistakes it angered me to read. This man was almost convicted by HORRIBLE MISTAKES. Read the original story, shame on this dept.
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by Joe
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06/23/07 10:47 AM
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Trevena is a clown. He is the bay areas version of Jesse Jackon/Al Sharpton. Any case that can get his name in the paper he is all over it. Ringling Brothers should be so proud.
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by Jeff
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06/23/07 10:29 AM
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Trevena thinks he's going to get millions? The most he can get is 100k due to sovereign immunity, and he doesn't have a strong case. Probable cause existed for the arrest. No one is entitled to a "perfect" investigation.
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by Heidi
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06/23/07 09:50 AM
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No wonder the sheriff needs more $- He has to pay for gross mistakes like these!
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Fifty years ago, they were screwed-up kids sent to the Florida School for Boys to be straightened out. But now they are screwed-up men, scarred by the whippings they endured. Read the story and see a video and portrait gallery.
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