Man maintains he was in Mexico, never charged with drunk driving

A man accused of violating his probation maintains he was never on probation at all but instead is the victim of mistaken identity since he was reportedly living in Mexico when the person in question was arrested.

The defendant, Carlos Perez, speaking through an interpreter Tuesday, told the court that somehow his picture was linked in sheriff?s department records with the criminal history of another similar-looking person, and that he is not the person they are seeking on probation violation charges.

Under potential penalty of perjury, Perez took the stand to maintain he is the victim of mistaken identity, something General Sessions Judge Larry Ross said is not out of the realm of possibility given the unusual nature of the intake sheets which are both the exact same picture despite being taken six years apart.

?I was in Mexico until 2003,? Perez said through the interpreter. ?That is not me.?

In question is whether Perez is the person arrested in 2000 on drunk driving charges. That person, probation officers say, never showed up for probation meetings as required by the court. Therefore, the officers, who never got to meet Perez back in 2000, could not positively identify the probationer, nor do they have a picture of him independent of the jail?s intake sheet.

?If we?re going to err, then we?re going to err on the side of caution,? Ross said in holding his decision until March 28 and releasing Perez from custody until that time.

In his order, Ross said lawmen are to take fingerprints from Perez and compare them to fingerprints which should be on file with the sheriff?s department taken during the booking of the mystery prisoner six years ago.

Should the prints be those of Perez, then Ross said the immigrant will not only face probation violation charges but also charges of perjury. If prosecutors cannot find the fingerprints from the 2000 booking then charges will be dropped.