Lie Lands Man Behind Bars

Alabama Daphne A Daphne man's imagination gave his neighbors quite a scare and landed him behind bars.

by Diana Lucio

Published: Thu, July 10, 2008 - 8:24 pm CST

The neighborhood is calm and quiet along Buena Vista Drive in Lake Forest, but Tuesday night 42-year-old Paul Smith told friends and family that three men forced their way into his home, where he ended up killing one in self defense. But much to his neighbor's surprise, police say Smith made up the whole story!
"That was supposed to have happened here? Wow, no, I never heard anything,"Said Diana Nugent, Smith's neighbor.
Captain Daniel Bell with the Daphne Police Department says they found out Wednesday and treated it like any other crime scene.
"This required a lot of assets to be utilized to investigate this and that involved detectives to go on to the scene look in at the scene and interview witnesses, those who had talked to this gentleman and actually talking to the gentleman himself,"Said Bell. The story spread through out the Lake Forest subdivision, but Douglas Turney says he didn't buy it. "We really don't have things like that happen on Eastern Shore that's one of the reasons I live over here it's such a safe quiet area. So it's kinda hard to believe that something like that happened,"Said Turney. While folks at the Lake Forest subdivison can rest a little easier knowing that the incident didn't even happen, police tell us that they have zero tolerance when it comes to people who make false claims.
"We take that very serious and we will utilize the assets that we need to, to get to the bottom of it and in this case it was a waste of our assets to investigate something that was made up,"Said Captain Bell.
Authorities say Paul Smith is facing misdemeanor charges for filing a false report to police.
Daphne Police say he is being held at Daphne City Jail while he could face up to a year of prison time or up to a $6,000.00 fine.

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meluck Says:

Wed, Aug 06, 2008 at 7:18 pm

Well some police say it is ok to lie to them, some friends and I had this girl going around telling the police we where doing all kinds of stuff that we weren’t and we got arrested (with no proof). You think she ever got arrested for lieing (no). So we will see what happens.

carl Says:

Wed, Aug 06, 2008 at 5:45 pm

If Ftwaltonbchgirl is correct then I guess Daphne should take a short cut in the proceedings and throw open their city coffers and tell Mr. Smith to help him self. Might save some attorney fees.

DEW26M Says:

Wed, Aug 06, 2008 at 5:20 pm

ftwaltonbchgirl , keep us posted!

ftwaltonbchgirl Says:

Wed, Aug 06, 2008 at 5:05 pm

You are welcome. He only spent a few hours in jail & he has a court date coming up very soon.

DEW26M Says:

Wed, Aug 06, 2008 at 5:03 pm

ftwaltonbchgirl, thank you very much, so this case just went from “he-said/she-said” to “he-said/she-said/he-heard/she-heard” more reason I say this case is a waste of time and TAX-PAYERS money! Let the man go, tell him you sorry, and go on about ya business! I’d love to know if he’s still in detention or not!

ftwaltonbchgirl Says:

Wed, Aug 06, 2008 at 4:56 pm

Ok, both of you are in time out!! As I stated before, Mr Smith DID NOT call the police & he DID NOT tell his neighbors anything about the rumor. They only found out from WKRG. One of Mr Smith’s friends was told about this rumor & in turn the next day when he (the friend) didn’t see anything on the news about it, called the police station to find out more. The police then went to Mr Smith’s house to investigate.

DEW26M Says:

Wed, Aug 06, 2008 at 4:18 pm

sb13, I already know of that subsection, and also know that it has a 87% failure rate when presented before a jury. Not to mention like I said it’s all based on “he-said/she-said” the neighbor most likely has no PROOF of those words ever being spoken!

carl Says:

Wed, Aug 06, 2008 at 6:11 am

That section 13a-10-9 is a big Elastic loop hole that needs tightening a bit in the way it’s worded. You could stretch that one to fit most any case if no criminal is found, but no matter, I think no action should be taken unless the police receive a complaint from the victims of such crimes as this one was reported to be. As for the crime rate in Daphne I feel sure It’ll be inline with other cities of similar size now or in the near future as the diversity increases in economic status and races. Which side of The bay your on isn’t gonna make that much difference in the near future, only how much support you give your local Pd in the future.

sb13 Says:

Wed, Aug 06, 2008 at 5:29 am

Read it for yourself and interpret it how it best suits your opinion of the law…

Section 13A-10-9
False reporting to law enforcement authorities.

(a) A person commits the crime of false reporting to law enforcement authorities if he knowingly makes a false report or causes the transmission of a false report to law enforcement authorities of a crime or relating to a crime.

(b) False reporting to law enforcement authorities is a Class A misdemeanor.

DEW26M Says:

Tue, Aug 05, 2008 at 5:25 pm

sb13, I hate to inform you that you have been LIED TO! It is not illegal to lie, or tell a tall tale. You can not be LEGALLY arrested for simply lying(unless it’s directly to law enforcement)! Unless this man personally called and made the report, than he can not be liable for some “he-said/she-said” B/S! If that was the case, there would be 500% more people in jail/prison than there is now. There’s a BIG difference between conspiracy and a rumor! You are talking to someone who has been through the system,sat in jail for days on end reading the Code of Alabama numerous times. I might not know much, but I know the law, and how far it can be pushed. You’ll find out in the end, when this man is released, and counter-sues Daphne Police Department. You can allow yourself to be arrested for bogus charges if you want to, I’m not gonna!
__
Find in here where it says it’s against the law to lie to your neighbor!
http://www.legislature.state.al.us/CodeofAlabama/1975/coatoc.htm