ORLANDO, Fla.,None — A woman who was falsely accused by Orlando police of a crime she did not commit is suing them for the time she spent in jail.
Last year, the Orlando Police Department arrested Malenne Joseph and accused her of vandalizing a home in 2007. She spent three months in jail.
WFTV found out she is not only suing the police department, but is also suing the police officer who worked on her case, and the public defender's office.
Attorney Mark NeJame and his law firm said it is representing Joseph. The law firm said it is hoping that Joseph will get compensated for the time spent in jail and for the humiliation of being falsely accused of a crime.
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- Slideshow: Images from woman's 2010 release from jail
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"What is the price one pays to be ripped away from their family, falsely accused, locked up, without the ability to get out of jail, knowing that you are innocent? And all someone had to do is spend maybe 20 or 30 minutes verifying your story," said NeJame.
Police said eyewitnesses put her at the crime scene that day in 2007, but two lawyers looked into her case and found out that she was working at an Orange County Burger King at the time.
"Good people get convicted and falsely accused often," said NeJame. "It's rare that you're able to discover and uncover the falseness of it."
Her lawyers also found out the vandal's real name is Merline, similar to Malenne.
"She is not even listened to. When she is going, 'But I was at work, here are my time records, I was at work, working at Burger King,' but she was ignored," said NeJame.
After Joseph was convicted, the truth surfaced and the charges against her were dismissed.
NeJame has filed a lawsuit for "false arrest and false imprisonment" against the Orlando Police Department, one of its officers and the public defender's office.
"If you don't do your job right and you hurt other people because you are doing it so poorly, then somebody should pay," NeJame said.
NeJame said he hopes a lawsuit sends a strong message to everyone who was involved in the case.
"You want to believe that it's going to make a difference," he said. "That sloppiness isn't going to be tolerated."
No one from the police department that WFTV reached out to would comment on the case.