A woman from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania was wrongly accused of a crime and brought to a Texas jail where she spent almost a week behind bars only because of a case of mistaken identity.
The Backstory
The woman, named Julie Hudson was shocked out of her wits for having to pay for a crime she didn’t commit in the first place. This entire incident took pace back in May, 2022 when a particular shoplifting incident was witnessed at a sports shop in Webster, Texas. The Texan police had a suspect whose name was Julie Hudson and an inspection picture of the suspect looked very similar to that of a 31 year old Ph.D. student from Philly who shares the same name. Her pictures were found on social media and she was arrested after that.
Before being arrested, she was being rejected from jobs and when she went to the Philly police station, she figured out that she has a long shot of criminal charges against her name. She was arrested and kept in police custody right after that on the 5th of January. After she was unjustifiably arrested, her family reached out for help to the law officers in both Philadelphia as well as Texas.
Thankfully enough The Harris County District Attorney’s Office in Texas then filed a motion on Tuesday to dismiss the charges against Hudson, stating that the evidence wasn’t sufficient and immediately called the law enforcement officers at Philly to release Hudson, after a media inquiries kept taking place back and forth. She was released on the 11th of January after spending almost a week in jail. The police are now working towards making Hudson’s exit as graceful and less controversial as plausible. The Hudson family later said that this could happen only because of the media and press.
The Release
The Philly police officers said that the Webster police hadn’t communicated with them regarding any case of a brutal mistaken identity. It was the press and media report that actually fast forwarded the case and made everyone realize the grave mistake that had been made. Once the Philly police were assured of their meanly demeanor, they immediately started the procedure of a respectable exit for Hudson.
The District Attorney’s office has been quoted, saying “Julie Hudson is a Philadelphia resident who has no criminal record and is pursuing a Ph.D. What happened to her should not have happened, and her family deserves a great deal of credit for successfully advocating for her freedom with the media in Houston and in Philadelphia. I am also thankful for the quick action of our Charging Unit, led by Supervising ADA Amanda Hedrick; city Managing Director Tumar Alexander; the First Judicial District; Northwest Detectives; and Department of Prisons for effectuating Ms. Hudson’s release within a matter of hours. I am proud to lead a prosecutor’s office that works closely with law enforcement and the judiciary to ensure a rigorous process of approving arrest and search warrants.”
They later apologized for being so crassly with this case and admitted to being more involved than merely handcuffing someone based on proof that wasn’t even halfway true.
