In a case of mistaken identity, a man filed a defamation lawsuit that made its way all the way to the Michigan Supreme Court after being dismissed by “a Wayne County judge and an appeals court” back in 2015. Unfortunately for the man, identified as Keith Todd, the state Supreme Court also ruled against him last Friday. But what exactly happened to prompt Todd’s decision to file the lawsuit.
In a case of mistaken identity, a man filed a defamation lawsuit that made its way all the way to the Michigan Supreme Court after being dismissed by “a Wayne County judge and an appeals court” back in 2015. Unfortunately for the man, identified as Keith Todd, the state Supreme Court also ruled against him last Friday. But what exactly happened to prompt Todd’s decision to file the lawsuit.
Well, for those who don’t know, Todd was “identified as a criminal on MSNBC’s Caught on Camera: Dash Cam Diaries show back in 2011.” According to court documents, Todd filed the lawsuit because he claimed he was “publicly humiliated” and suffered “severe emotional distress” because of his name and picture “being associated with criminal acts on national television.”
But who was Todd mistakingly identified as? When did he become aware of the incident? Well, he was mistaken for Todd Keith, a man accused of “stealing a limousine” and called a “habitual car thief” on the national television show. To make matters worse for Todd, the episode has aired several times since 2011, and he didn’t even find out about the mistaken identity until November 2013 when his uncle and friends tipped him off. From there, Todd informed MSNBC and the network “re-aired the episode of the dashcam footage show with the correct name and a voiceover noting the previous mistake.” According to court documents, the voiceover said:
“When this report previously aired, we included the wrong name and photograph of the suspect. The man previously named and shown had no relation to the crime. We regret this error.”
After the network corrected their mistake, Todd filed the civil defamation lawsuit, but “the courts sided with the cable network, citing the statute of limitations.” According to court documents, defamation claims have a limit of one year for “filing claims.” Unfortunately for Todd, the episode “aired 27 months before Todd” even learned about the incident. Now, with the Supreme Court’s decision, Todd will have to try to make the best of the situation.
Sources:
Court rules against man misidentified as criminal in MSNBC police show
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