Georgia Woman Spends Night in Jail Over Seatbelt Charge
Have you recently received a ticket for not wearing your seatbelt? You’re probably annoyed over that pesky $65 ticket. But count yourself luck that you didn’t end up spending the night in jail like a recent Georgia woman.
The Eleventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals recently rejected Amanda Cruz’s lawsuit against the trooper who arrested her for keeping her in jail even though her only offense was a $15, non-jailable seatbelt offense.
Cruz was adjusting her seatbelt at a traffic light in Hall County, Georgia; she was stopped right in front of Georgia State Trooper Andy Page. When the light turned green, Cruz drove into the intersection without pulling the best back across her check. Page saw and immediately pulled her over.
During the routine stop, he asked for license and registration and saw that there was an outstanding arrest warrant for “Amanda Cruz.” But the Amanda Cruz wanted for questioning was a 30-year-old red head with tattoos on her arms and legs. The Cruz Page had pulled over had no tattoos. She was a full five inches shorter than the wanted woman, with dark brown hair and her license showed she was 32 years old.
Cruz told Page that she was not the woman he wanted, but he took her into custody anyway. At the Hall County Jail, Cruz was put in a holding cell for an hour. Cruz was then brought back before six jail staff for questioning. They eventually concluded that Cruz was not the woman listed in the warrant. But she was still held for the rest of the night until her mother arrived with a $120 bond so that she could be released over the $15 seatbelt charge.
The Arrest and Holding Cell Experience
A Georgia state court eventually dismissed the seatbelt ticket. Still upset about spending the night in hail, Cruz filed a lawsuit against the officer who put her in the holding cell and questioned her, alleging that she was kept without probable cause.
Lawsuit and Rejection by Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals
The Eleventh Circuit rejected her lawsuit, arguing there was no constitutional problem with detaining her over a parking ticket and cited the fact that the officer was immune from prosecution. The court found that there “was probable cause to believe that Cruz committed a crime, namely a violation of the seatbelt law, and that alone is sufficient to justify her detention for the purposes of the Fourth Amendment.” Just because it was a minor offense does not mean that her detention was not justified.