Lawyer: Cops Saw CCTV, Arrested Wrong Brother

'They could practically be twins'
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 31, 2020 1:24 PM CDT
Lawyer: Security Video Almost Sent Wrong Brother to Prison
Saul says Palmer realized who the real suspect was as soon as he saw the footage.   (Getty Images/Supersmario)

"Sometimes the evidence is overwhelming even if you’re innocent," says Florida lawyer Scott Saul. His client, Darnell Palmer, was arrested for attempted murder over an April incident in a North Miami Beach convenience store. Palmer, a regular customer, was arrested after he was identified from CCTV footage and a car involved was traced back to his mother, the Miami Herald reports. But Saul says when he sent Palmer the footage, he realized that his half-brother, Daltone Anderson, was the person who had fired a shot at the storefront after an argument about cigar prices. "They could practically be twins," but Palmer's dreadlocks are longer and he has a more friendly face, the lawyer says.

The case against Palmer—who spent three weeks in jail and months under house arrest—was dismissed after Saul filed a motion including photographs of both men. Prosecutors said the case "could not be proven beyond a reasonable doubt due to an issue relating to the identification of the charged defendant." Saul says the suspect's face is clearly visible in the CCTV footage and it's easy to see how police and prosecutors could have gotten the wrong man. "If I didn’t get the information about the brother this poor guy would have gone to trial and he would have been guilty in a heartbeat," Saul says. Anderson, who is out on bail in a drugs case, has not been charged. (More Florida stories.)

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