Innocent black PhD student in Philadelphia spent six days in jail after a warrant misidentified her
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An innocent black Philadelphia woman spent nearly a week in jail after being wrongfully arrested for a crime committed in Texas, even though she had never been to the Lone Star State.
The incident began with a robbery case at a sports store in Webster, Texas, near Houston, in May 2022. Police identified the suspect as a woman named Julie Hudson.
Through sheer bad luck, a surveillance photo of the suspect appeared similar to social media images of a Ph.D. 31 years old. Philadelphia student, also named Julie Hudson.
Philadelphia Hudson, unaware that she had been mistaken for the shoplifting suspect, soon discovered that she was repeatedly denied jobs and even had a criminal record to her name.
Julie Hudson, 31, of Philadelphia, spent nearly a week in prison after being wrongfully arrested for a crime in Texas due to a mistaken identity case.
Police said this surveillance photo of the suspect seen in Webster, Texas, resembled social media images of the Ph.D. student Hudson, who also had the same name
When she visited a Philadelphia police station to find out why, she was arrested and taken into custody on January 5 for six days.
“When you know you didn’t do anything wrong, you go crazy,” Hudson said. NBC 10.
“Everyone is sure that you did something, that you are a criminal, but you know that is not what you are,” he added.
I want to know what happened. I want to find out how this happened and I want it to never happen to anyone else.
“When you know you didn’t do anything wrong, you go crazy,” Hudson said. ‘Everyone is sure that you did something, that you are a criminal, but you know that’s not what you are.’
Her family contacted law enforcement in both Texas and Philadelphia to try to get her released.
The Harris County District Attorney’s Office in Texas filed a motion to dismiss the charges against him, citing insufficient evidence.
“We accept charges based on the sworn evidence presented to us by the police,” a spokesperson for the Harris County District Attorney’s Office wrote.
On Tuesday, Webster police notified the court of the error. We dismissed the case in five minutes and immediately contacted the Philadelphia police to release our arrest on Ms. Hudson’.
Hudson is shown leaving jail after having been in custody for six days since January 5.
Hudson can be seen hugging a family member following his release on January 11.
Philadelphia police have also released a statement explaining their actions.
“Philadelphia Police became aware that the warrant was dismissed on 11/1/23 at approximately 5:00 PM after receiving a media inquiry,” a Philadelphia Police spokesperson wrote.
“At that time, we immediately requested that Ms. Hudson be released and are actively working with the Philadelphia Department of Prisons to process her release in the fastest possible manner.”
Hudson and his family are now considering legal action and are demanding answers to understand how the mistake occurred, as well as to prevent it from happening to anyone else.
Hudson’s family is considering legal action following his wrongful imprisonment.
“Julie had a family that was able to gather the information, if we needed to raise the funds,” Hudson’s sister, Charon Hudson, told NBC News. ‘So many people out there who don’t have that. And that’s what struck a chord with me.
“If it hadn’t been for the media and the press, no one would have taken the time to do what they did today,” Charon said.
While Hudson was finally released Wednesday night, her family told NBC10 that they still need to remove the bug from her record.
“If it hadn’t been for the media and the press, no one would have taken the time to do what they did today,” said Hudson’s sister, Charon Hudson.
Last week, Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner released a statement about Hudson’s ordeal.
“I am not aware of any effort by Texas authorities to contact my office directly regarding the misidentification of Ms. Hudson, which led to her arrest by Philadelphia police on January 6 based on an arrest warrant for fugitive. Once the District Attorney’s Office independently realized that Webster police had confirmed to local media that they had mistakenly sought out Ms. Hudson for an arrest, we moved quickly to make sure that Ms. Hudson was be released from custody as soon as possible.
‘Julie Hudson is a Philadelphia resident with no criminal record and is pursuing a Ph.D. What happened to her should not have happened, and her family deserves a lot of credit for successfully defending her freedom to the media in Houston and Philadelphia.”
Krasner offered an apology to Hudson and his family.
“As an institution, law enforcement owes you an apology,” Krasner said. “We should be able to do better than rely on family members and rely on the media to make it a notice process to get you out of jail six days later without your meds.”
“We could have at least picked up the phone and said, ‘You did what?! Let me clear this up. Did you use social media to make an ID? Why else do you think this Philly guy is committing retail robberies in Texas?”
Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney also weighed in, releasing a statement Monday:
“We are shocked by the ordeal she and her family went through due to an erroneous court order from another jurisdiction, and grateful that she is now home,” he wrote.