JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office is responding after Action News Jax showed how the department used AI to help identify a suspect in a grand theft case, but the technology and two eye witnesses ended up picking the wrong guy.
We’ve teamed up with our sister station, WSOC-TV in Charlotte, North Carolina, for this story and they spoke in person with Jalil Richardson, a Charlotte man whose life was turned upside down in this case of high-tech mistaken identity.
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“And I sat in there for over 50 days in the most worst jail ever,” Richardson said, speaking about the Duval County Jail.
Action News Jax first told you last week how Richardson spent months in jail after a man in Jacksonville contacted authorities when he tried to register his new car only to find out it had been stolen.
So JSO used surveillance video from the parking lot where the exchange happened.
RELATED: Charlotte father of 10 says Jacksonville police AI misidentification cost him his freedom, home, job
According to court documents, the victim said the seller also gave him a fake Georgia ID. A JSO investigator then used AI to try and match a suspect to the video and the ID. The facial recognition system matched the evidence with 85% accuracy to Richardson.
“There was no proper investigation done, um, to even reach out to me or to see if I was even in Florida,” Richardson said.
We asked JSO a series of questions about the case, including whether an 85% match is sufficient for investigators to pursue a lead.
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They’re still working on getting us that answer, but sent the following statement to us:
“The investigating patrol officer used facial recognition software as one of several investigative tools in this case. The technology was used to help develop a possible suspect from surveillance footage.
“Following that step, the victim identified Mr. Richardson in a photographic lineup.
“At a separate time, officers presented a photographic lineup to the victim’s brother, who was present during the transaction. He also identified Mr. Richardson as the perpetrator.
“Based on those identifications and other evidence gathered during the investigation, officers obtained an arrest warrant for Mr. Richardson. The judge who signed that warrant found there to be probable cause for Mr. Richardson‘s arrest. Subsequently, there was an adversarial probable cause hearing. After a full hearing, in which Mr. Richardson was present and represented by counsel, a second judge determined that there was probable cause for Mr. Richardson’s arrest. During that adversarial hearing, the victim again identified Mr. Richardson as the perpetrator of these crimes.
“The case was subsequently reviewed by the State Attorney’s Office. Prosecutors filed charges against Mr. Richardson but later entered a nolle prosequi.
“Facial recognition technology is used as one tool among many available to investigators. In this case, it was one tool, but certainly not the only tool, which lent to the probable cause determination that Mr. Richardson was the perpetrator of these crimes.”
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Prosecutors initially filed charges against Richardson, but ultimately dropped the case last week. It’s after Richardson’s attorney provided timesheets showing he was at work in North Carolina at the time the stolen car was sold in Jacksonville.
Richardson said he lost his job and his home while he was in jail. He also lost custody of two of his children.
“I’m not sure how I’m gonna bounce back from this one you know. It’s a lot. I’m just taking it one day at a time,” he said.
We will continue to ask the State Attorney’s Office about the use of facial recognition and how often the tool misidentifies suspects.
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