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Being interrogated for 10 hours and wrongfully arrested for murder still haunts Anderson Jones.
Tears well up in his eyes as he describes the three weeks he spent in Dallas County Jail in 2015.
“The last thing I wanted was to be sitting in jail 20 or 30 years for a crime I did not commit,” Jones said in an interview with The Dallas Morning News.
Elena Perez, a Dallas homicide detective, arrested Jones in August 2015 in what judges described as a “dubious” case. Perez, according to records, relied on a witness with a low I.Q. She led the man to identify Jones in a one person photo lineup — a clear violation of procedures. She then lied in an affidavit about the lineup, according to records.
When police and the district attorney’s office found the errors, they requested Jones be removed from jail. The department disciplined Perez with a suspension and a demotion.
The incident prompted a lengthy civil rights lawsuit against the city of Dallas by Jones, who sought damages for “emotional and mental anguish.”
But after a three-year legal battle, a federal appellate court agreed last week with a lower court decision to dismiss the case, ruling Jones’ civil rights were not violated. The three-judge panel in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals said even if the lineup was flawed, the detective “could have reasonably believed probable cause” existed to arrest Jones. They also said there was no evidence Perez “deliberately framed” Jones.
The ruling surprised Jones and his civil rights attorney, Don Tittle.
Civil cases claiming wrongful arrests are difficult and often get dismissed, Tittle said, but he thought Jones would get justice.
“Even the police admitted they were wrong,” Tittle said. “I assumed we would get through the window and at least have a shot of a trial by jury.”
Tittle said the ruling sets a very high bar to clear in a wrongful arrest case.
“If these facts aren’t enough to clear it, then I begin to wonder if there is any set of facts the courts will find sufficient,” Tittle said.
“These police misconduct cases are disfavored by the courts, and they are making it harder every day for someone to get justice,” Tittle said. “Even in a case like Anderson’s, where clearly they have been wronged.”Tittle said Jones had a strong case: He was an innocent person arrested, the department admitted the witness was unreliable, and a deputy police chief also said there was not sufficient probable cause in the case, according to court records.
But the judges said an arrest is justified when “there is probable cause to believe that a criminal offense has been or is being committed.” Although Perez’s case had inconsistencies, the ruling said Perez had probable cause at the time after a witness pointed the finger at Jones.
“Perez may have presented the evidence against Jones in too rosy a light, but she did not make it up out of whole cloth such that her attempt to obtain the warrant would ‘shock the conscience,’” the ruling said.
The Dallas City Attorney’s office, which represented Perez, declined to comment for this story.
Dallas police in a statement confirmed Perez no longer works for the department. She retired in 2017. The murder case remains open.
Arrest and interrogation
Dallas police arrested Jones on a marijuana charge after the car he was in was stopped. Jones was taken to headquarters, where he was interrogated for about two hours before he was told he was a suspect in the murder of a 28-year-old Latino man. Jones had no violent criminal history.
Jones was placed in a small interrogation room. He said he couldn’t go to the bathroom or have a break from the questioning.
“I’m still thinking, ‘This is for weed? Y’all doing all this for weed?’ ” Jones said.
According to records, the homicide detective interviewed a witness named Christopher Miller, who had “a low IQ” and had smoked synthetic marijuana before talking to police. Miller first said he was the lookout for the murder but quickly backtracked and said a man named K.T. killed the 28-year-old. K.T was Jones’ nickname.
When Miller was questioned a second time, he attempted “to strangle himself with his own shirt and had to be restrained,” according to the records.
Eventually, Miller repeated his original story, “with the aid of a few prompts from Perez,” court records show.
When police conducted a photo lineup, Miller identified three people: Jones and two uninvolved men. Miller said the three he picked out all looked like the same person, records show. Perez then returned with a single photo of Jones and asked Miller if this was the man who committed the murder. He said yes.
Miller also ended up being arrested in connection with the murder. When Dallas police found inconsistencies, a deputy police chief requested the release of Jones and Miller, records show.
Jones described the three weeks he spent in jail as the worst of his life.
“I see how people lose it. I’d find myself talking to myself. Answering myself,” he said.
Moving on
Jones grew up in Dallas with his two younger siblings in a single-mom household. Jones said he doesn’t judge his father for not being around, because his father “had his own struggles.”
But Jones knew when he had kids, he’d be present in their lives. He now has nine children, including stepchildren.
“I wanted to be the best dad I can be,” he said. “I have to be a man, stand up and take care of mine.”
When he was in jail, he feared he would never see his kids again. That they, too, would grow up without a father.
“I kept thinking I had to get out of here,” Jones said.
Then, nearly three weeks after he was in jail, Jones got a call. It was his lawyer.
“You’re going to go home,” Jones recalled him saying.
His criminal attorney put him in touch with Tittle. Jones begins to cry when he talks about Tittle, saying “he’s been a blessing” and a “positive inspiration.”
Jones said he felt frustrated after getting out of jail. Finding a job was hard. He felt employers judged him.
He said Tittle kept him on the “straight and narrow.” Jones now works as an air conditioning technician.
Jones said the legal loss hurts, but that he isn’t surprised it didn’t end in his favor. He doubted the criminal justice system.
“I was devastated,” he said. “But I’m happy we fought.”