Wrongly jailed woman seeks action against Atlanta cops

Woman loses her home and car while she is jailedShe was mistaken for a suspect and jailed for nearly two monthsDistrict attorney acknowledges mistake
Atlanta (CNN) -- When Teresa Culpepper called Atlanta police to report her car stolen, the last thing she expected was to land behind bars for 53 days in a case of mistaken identity.
Mistaken for a woman of the same first name who was wanted on a battery charge, Culpepper is now trying to return her life to normal after the ordeal cost her home and her car. Her attorney said none of it would have happened if police had followed basic procedures.
"This is something that should not have ever happened. It is nuts," said attorney Ashleigh Merchant.
While police did not return calls to CNN about Culpepper, the district attorney has determined that she was the wrong person arrested.
Culpepper's saga started August 21, whe she called police to report that her car was stolen, Merchant said. An officer took information from her, but never filed a report. Shortly after, police dispatchers called out a bulletin, alerting officers to look out for a woman named Teresa Gilbert who was suspected of aggravated battery.
Police returned to Culpepper's house and arrested her. And the differences between the two women didn't stop at their last names, Merchant said.
"The birth dates didn't match. The addresses were different. The description didn't match. Other than the name Teresa, nothing matched," Merchant said. "All they had to do was show a picture of Teresa to the victim and none of this would have happened."
Even so, Culpepper was held in jail, handed a bond she couldn't cover and indicted. She remained in jail for days, thinking there was no way out of the predicament.
It wasn't until weeks later that the battery victim came forward in court and cleared Culpepper's name.
Still, released on October 12, Culpepper found herself homeless and her car in the impound lot.
"After investigating this matter thoroughly and discussing it carefully with the Atlanta Police Department, we have concluded that the wrong person was arrested," District Attorney Paul Howard Jr. said in a written statement to CNN affiliate WSB. "The fact that both of the women in question had the same first name and lived in the same police beat led the officer to believe Ms. Culpepper was responsible ... Unfortunately, the officer never presented a picture or any form of identification to the victim."
Culpepper is seeking legal action against the Atlanta police, Merchant said.
"It is scary, really," Merchant said. "Because it is not like Teresa is an uncommon name. It makes you feel that it could have happened to anybody."
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Woman sues banks over son's eBay con

The Commonwealth Bank, pictured, confirms it will defend the charges in the Supreme Court.Woman seeks damages over the scam, a bank spokesman saysReports: She claims banks ignored her after she warned accounts were issued to minorBoy funded lavish lifestyle with eBay scam
(CNN) -- An Australian woman is suing the nation's top four banks for their alleged role in laundering money from her teenage son's $200,000 eBay scam that afforded him a $6,000-a-day playboy lifestyle.
Australian media reported that in 2007, the then 14 year old boy was making so much money selling non-existent laptops, mobile phones and watches on eBay he could afford to book a $4300-a-night penthouses overlooking Sydney Harbour, fly friends interstate for lavish parties and hire limousines to take him to the beach.
A spokesman for the Commonwealth Bank of Australia confirmed to CNN that the woman from the south coast of New South Wales, who along with her son cannot be named for legal reasons, had launched an action in the Supreme Court seeking damages over the scam.
Reports said she was seeking an apology from the Commonwealth Bank, ANZ, Westpac and NAB for ''unconscionable conduct'' after allegedly allowing her son to open numerous bank accounts with debit cards "without reasonable scrutiny".
She claims the banks ignored her or refused to discuss the matter for privacy reasons when she warned them they had issued accounts that were being used by a minor to bank illegal funds, reports said.
''He was an intelligent boy who worked out how to cheat the system and play it for all it was worth,'' she told Australia's Sun Herald newspaper. ''As his parent and legal guardian, I begged the banks to stop giving him accounts and debit cards but each time I got nowhere because of the Privacy Act.''
She said her suspicions were aroused four years ago when her son began spending lavishly. She told the Sun-Herald she later uncovered a log book listing thousands of dollars worth of transactions with eBay.
The boy, now 19, allegedly deceived the Commonwealth Bank into opening an account after fronting up to the bank with a birth certificate and a friend over the age of 18 who claimed to be his guardian, according to reports in Australian media.
''Once he secured that, he was able to accumulate check and Visa debit accounts with many other financial institutions including Westpac, the Bank of Queensland, ANZ, Credit Union Australia and the Hume Building Society,'' the mother was quoted as saying in the Sun-Herald report.
Police eventually arrested the boy at school after many of the frauds were linked to an IP address attached to a classroom computer.
By the time of his arrest, the boy was already allegedly working another scam, milking the $1,500 overdraft facility on a series of debit accounts. In the meantime, reports said, the boy lived a playboy lifestyle with shopping sprees for Versace and Prada clothes and Louis Vuitton luggage.
''There I was, a single mum of two, desperately struggling to put food on the table. He, meanwhile, would stroll in after feasting at the latest fancy restaurant of his choice and chuck me leftovers in a plastic tub,'' she told the Sun-Herald
Underneath the exterior, her son was an ''insecure boy out to impress,'' she told the newspaper. Reports said that during the past four years, she had reluctantly handed her son to the police 15 times.
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