VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — A civil rights organization is investigating the wrongful arrest of a Navy wife in Virginia Beach.
The Virginia Beach chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, or NAACP, is looking into a complaint filed by Jacqueline Alcita Smith.
Jacqueline A. Smith was arrested on Joint Expeditionary Base (JEB) Little Creek-Fort Story in the early morning hours of Saturday, Feb. 17. She was jailed in Virginia Beach for two days, then later be released on a $5 bond.
Smith told 10 On Your Side she was wrongfully arrested.
“Now the identities have been blurred, which is that’s what’s so concerning to me,” said Smith during an interview with WAVY last week.
Virginia Beach NAACP President Dr. Eric Majette issued the following statement about this case:
The VB NAACP is continuing to gather information on the arrest of Mrs. Jacqueline Alcita Smith by the Federal Police, Virginia Beach Police Department and the Virginia Beach Sheriff’s Department. The misidentification of Mrs. Smith as well as the inconsistencies of the reports and possible mistreatment of Mrs. Smith are of the upmost concern of the VB NAACP. It is important that all citizens are properly identified, and treated with the care and compassion due each and every human being. We look forward to updates from all three entities as they continue to look into this incident and ensure that these situations are not the common practice but that this is an isolated incident.
Virginia Beach NAACP President Dr. Eric Majette
Jacqueline A. Smith shares the same first and last name as a woman wanted in Baltimore, Maryland.
Maryland court records confirm there is an active warrant for Jacqueline Renee Smith, born on July 25, 1987. The misdemeanor assault charge stems from a domestic violence dispute on August 27, 2015.
Following media reports, the Virginia Beach Police Department (VBPD), launched an internal investigation. The conclusion of the VBPD internal investigation states the morning of Feb. 17, police entered “the name and social security number into the FBI’s National Crime Information Center, or NCIC. The query on the SSN revealed an open warrant for felony aggravated assault out of Baltimore County, Maryland.”
The VBPD press release said that “the date of births on the return have both the exact month and day of birth with a slight difference in the year.”
10 On Your Side clarified with VBPD and Baltimore County Police Department (BCPD), that the year of birth is off by three years.
Jacqueline A. Smith told WAVY.com that in addition to birthdate concerns, a mugshot was provided to the VBPD officers from BCPD.
Following the internal investigation press release, a VBPD spokesperson confirmed to WAVY.com that the arresting officer had a mugshot of the wanted woman from several years ago. The mugshot was not released to WAVY-TV 10. The “booking photo and fingerprints are not available as the warrant is still open,” said a BCPD spokesperson.
Other Concerns
Court documents obtained by 10 On Your Side’s investigations team outlined “inconsistencies” with fingerprint returns, according to a magistrate.
On Sunday, Feb. 18, a Virginia Beach magistrate said that after the arrest, Virginia Beach Police “began to have concerns” about the identity of the person that was the subject of the “underlying … warrant as it relates to [the] identity of the arrestee.” A Virginia Beach Police officer said there were “inconsistencies of fingerprint returns,” and said based on the new information, the bond should be adjusted to its lowest level “sufficient for release.”
However, the VBPD press release writes, “Smith was fingerprinted, and fingerprints confirmed that the person in our custody was the same individual wanted out of Maryland.”
WAVY inquired about the inconsistencies referenced in the paperwork, a police spokesperson maintains there were no fingerprint inconsistencies.
Legal Opinion
Happy O’Brien with Sheppard & O’Brien Law Firm, calls the case a ‘perfect storm.’
“It’s just, in my opinion, a terribly unfortunate situation that you have a young lady with a very common name who gets picked up on a Saturday from an out of state jurisdiction warrant and [that] things couldn’t be handled right away. They had to take the time. The process had to work its way out. It looks like, at least at this point, things are working out so that she’ll be able to clear her name,” said O’Brien. “In the future. She’s got to make sure that that mistake doesn’t happen again because there’s obviously been some sort of blurring or merging of her vital information with the accused vital information.”
O’Brien believes an outside agency is at-fault for the identification inconsistencies.
O’Brien adds, “This is where we have the balancing act, [of] a person’s freedom, their liberty is one of the most important things that we try to protect in this country. We don’t want to arbitrarily scoop people up and put them in jail if there’s no good reason. At the same point as a society, we want our police. We want law enforcement to interact with one another to help other agencies to get the bad people. That’s what the Virginia Beach police were trying to do in this situation.”
Smith is now working to a different law firm to clear her name. As she must correct court documents in Virginia and appear in court in Maryland to address the recent arrest.
Continue to check WAVY.com for updates.