Three and a half years – a period that 23-year-old U.S. citizen Davino Watson had to serve in the immigration prison on false charges. However, in the end, still prevailed, only by the time Watson have already served time. The icing on the cake was the fact that the lost years of freedom for him , no one compensates.
In 2002 Davino Watson, who along with his father moved to the United States from Jamaica, became an American citizen. A few years later, in 2007, he was accused of selling cocaine and sent to serve time in prison until 2008. In may, he was released.
But the bad was just ahead: for some unknown reason, Watson was arrested by officers of Immigration and customs enforcement, U.S. (ICE). And despite the fact that he told them about his citizenship, no one wanted to listen, including the employees of the prison.
Besides, Devine could not afford a lawyer, and the right to free assistance from the state lawyer. The young man had to refute the charges against him, but as you know, nothing happened.
A cruel joke played with it a negligence of the immigration officers. Watson gave them the name of his father and gave his number. But as it turned out, his family no call. Instead, the ICE officers tried to find his relatives in the database.
The search was conducted did not: officers mistook his father Devino – Olando of Hopeton Watson – a Hopeton Livingston Watson. Them has not confused that the latter came to the United States absolutely in a different time, lived in new York, and in Connecticut, and he had no son named Davina.
The main thing that caught the eyes of officers at the Hopeton Livingston Watson was not American citizenship. Therefore, they concluded, being in prison, Devino have to wait their deportation. The immigration court agreed.
When Watson still managed to be released in 2011, he filed a lawsuit in a district court in new York. Interestingly, last year, judge Jack Weinstein acknowledged “regrettable negligence of the government” and decided that the state must pay Davino compensation in the amount of $82,500.
The judge also said that “all this legal disaster” could have been avoided if Watson was a lawyer from the beginning.
“The plaintiff probably immediately would be declared a citizen and was released almost immediately after his arrest, if he ever was arrested,” added Weinstein.
However, this decision has been appealed to the appellate court. Moreover, the court of appeal did not dispute the fact that Watson spent time in immigration jail by mistake. The question was in his right to receive the compensation money.
Yesterday, August 1, Davina learned that he will not receive compensation for expired two-year Statute of limitations. That is, to file his lawsuit, Watson was back when he was in prison and had no defender.
However, mark Flesner, one of the lawyers Davino Watson, decided not to give up and is already preparing for the filing of the suit in the U.S. Supreme court.
