Tyrone Lamont Allen, the suspect in a viral case where police edited his mugshot to remove his tattoos so he would more resemble the suspect's description, will receive no prison time.
Police claim they edited out Allen's tattoos because they would be “too distracting for witnesses.” Allen's lawyer, Mark Ahlemeyer, argued that the move was done to help “rig the outcome” and put his client behind bars.
Back in April, Allen and his attorney accepted a guilty plea that gave him time served as well as three years of supervision.
In 2019, U.S. District Judge Marco A. Hernandez expressed concerns about the police conduct: “It remains unclear to this Court where the line between constitutional and unconstitutional police conduct lies with regard to editing the photograph of a defendant in a lineup."
Michael Fesser, a childhood friend of Allen, and someone who also has a history with Oregon’s justice system, spoke with Oregon Live after the decision: “It’s like hitting the lottery. You never see this happen with a Black man and his kind of lengthy criminal history."
Allen has been involved with Fesser’s program, Going Home II, which helps men reintergrate into society after they are released from prison.
“There’s no words for it,” Herman Greene, a local pastor, and Portland school board member told Oregon Live. “Maybe, just maybe, the system is about to change.”
[Via]
