A tenth plaintiff has joined a lawsuit against former Louisville Metro Police Detective Crystal Marlowe and former Chief Robert White, claiming he was wrongfully charged with a crime he could not have committed.
Dale Todd, represented by Bahe Cook Cantley & Nefzger PLC joined a lawsuit Monday with nine other people who allege Marlowe lied in court or coerced false identifications from witnesses, leading to their wrongful arrests.
In January 2011, White fired Marlowe after concluding her "blatant disregard" for rules had discredited the department and led police to charge the wrong people. She has filed an appeal with the Police Merit Board. According to an internal investigation of Marlowe, she influenced a witness into picking Todd out of a photo lineup as the man who assaulted him in October 2009 because she believed he was responsible for the crime.
After the victim said he was over 50 percent sure Todd was one of the attackers, Marlowe asked him how much more certain he was, according to an audio of the interview police reviewed. The victim, according to police, said maybe he was 70 percent sure and Marlowe then said he was 75 percent positive and had him sign a form indicating he had identified Todd.
However, Todd, a juvenile at the time, could not have committed the assault because he was in the Louisville Metro Youth Center on another charge when the attack occurred. Police found Marlowe had violated eight counts of standard operating procedure . The charges against Todd were dismissed once it became apparent he had an alibi.