When Bonnie Wilson was in college, she was accused by a police officer of obtaining painkillers using forged prescriptions. The evidence against her consisted of a perpetrator who used a fake name that was similar to Wilson’s middle name and a prescription for painkillers obtained in her brother’s name.
In reality, Wilson had committed no crime, as she was 30 miles away at college when it took place. Her brother had a legitimate prescription, and she bore no resemblance to the actual perpetrator, who had blonde hair and a piercing while Wilson was a brunette with no piercings.
Regardless of this easily checkable information, Wilson was arrested and spent nine months and thousands of dollars going through the justice system to clear her name. Had her family not been able to afford lawyers, she may have had to take a plea deal for a crime she didn’t commit, a not uncommon occurrence in the criminal justice system.
Wilson wrote of her experience because the judge in her case, whom Wilson said had admonished her because her attorney asked for a continuance, has recently come out to discuss the hardships faced by falsely accused people.
“I am glad to see that Judge [Marcia] Morey finally understands that damages to a person happen with an arrest,” Wilson wrote. “Although the system eventually ‘worked,’ nine months of my life were consumed with stress and anxiety from fighting false charges instead of enjoying my senior year in college.”
Wilson wrote that despite her official record being expunged, no newspaper and no public official reported her innocence. Websites selling “background information” can still report her arrest. She wrote that she will forever be viewed suspiciously because, since she was arrested, she “must have done something.”
Still, she counts herself as lucky.
“I did not face a corrupt prosecutor hiding evidence or 88 professors publicly presuming my guilt as in the Duke Lacrosse case. Unlike Joseph Sledge, I did not have to spend 36 years in prison trying to prove my innocence,” Wilson wrote. “What might have happened if my circumstances were different?”
I don’t want to say Wilson’s gender had anything to do with her being able to move on from a false accusation, I think it has more to do with the crime. Prescription forgery just isn’t as – for lack of a better term – “sexy,” as sexual assault and sexual harassment.
For her part, Judge Morey responded. She didn’t remember Wilson’s case (judges see so many defendants a day, we can’t fault them for that), but pointed out that it was not her fault that Wilson was falsely accused.
Morey didn’t, however, acknowledge that she might have been harsh toward Wilson when it got to her part of the justice system. Still, Morey says she “appreciate[s] how devastating it is on a person to be charged with a crime she did not commit,” although she believes Wilson’s comments were directed at the wrong person.
Whatever disagreement these two have, the situation highlights the problems faced by the falsely accused. They lose money, time, and are forever viewed suspiciously – and that goes doubly for those accused of sexual assault. Because in the media’s eye, a man accused is a man guilty, and no amount of evidence can exonerate him.
Ashe Schow is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.
