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A Michigan village has agreed to a $320,000 settlement with a man from Japan who was falsely accused of drunken driving after a cop misread a breathalyzer test.
According to adocument filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuitlast October, Caitlyn Peca, a then-rookie officer with the Fowlerville Police Department, pulled over Akima for operating a vehicle with an inoperative headlight on Feb. 19, 2020. Per the filing, Akima was administered a breath test after he told Peca that he had drank “just a little bit out of the bottle.”
“[Peca] instructed Akima to blow into the breathalyzer, which required four attempts before Akima registered a reading,” according to the court document. “Officer Peca interpreted the test as showing an alcohol content of 0.22, well above Michigan’s legal limit of 0.08.”
PEOPLE has reached out to T. Joseph Seward, an attorney for Peca, for comment.
Akima explained to authorities that he had a U.S. visa and an international driver’s license, according to court records. He was taken to a hospital to have his blood drawn before being booked at the county jail.
The results from the blood test a week later showed that his blood alcohol content was 0.014, well below the state’s legal limit, according to the filing, and the charges of driving while intoxicated were thrown out.
Akima later sued Peca “for false arrest, false imprisonment, and intentional infliction of emotional distress,” according to the court filing, alleging that as a result of the charges, his visa was revoked and he was deported to Japan.
Per the complaint, Akima had to complete substance abuse courses in his native country before he could renew his visa, “and the process interrupted his ability to work in the United States for several months.”
Peca had sought to have the suit dismissed based on qualified immunity.
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“On behalf of our client, Mr. Akima, we are grateful to have finally secured justice and rightful compensation after battling through years of unnecessary delays due to governmental immunity,” Ven Johnson, Akima’s attorney, tells PEOPLE.
“Mr. Akima, a Japanese citizen, endured a traumatic experience involving false accusations and a wrongful arrest for drunk driving, despite registering a blood alcohol concentration of 0.0 on a Portable Breath Test (PBT), resulting in malicious prosecution,” he adds.
According to the AP, Seward said that performance on roadside sobriety tests justified making an arrest and allowing immunity from civil liability. “We’re disappointed the courts didn’t see it that way.”
source: people.com
