Phoenix Pd Used Ai To Match My Id To Cctv Of A Person Using A Stolen Atm Card. They're 100% Sure It Was Me, I Was 2 Hours Away At The Time.

Title. This is a throw away account. I have already retained counsel. This is a general question of rights and what I can expect going forward. (Sorry for the lengthy post, I'm nervous).

This is everything that I know so far:

March 8 a person in their early 20s was seen in West Phoenix using a stolen atm card at a Walgreens. Phoenix PD used whatever AI matching system they have to match the CCTV footage to my photo id, which is old. The id is current, the photo is years out of date.

Phoenix PD showed up at my mother's house last Wednesday looking for me. They didn't have my current legal name (changed about 17 years ago) or know my current address (left Phoenix over 10 years ago), but they are 100% certain I committed this crime, and that I'm part of a larger fraud ring. So far as I am aware, I am the only person of interest that they have tracked down. I'm convinced that a clerical error that was entered into the state system when I was younger and on ahcccs has led PXPD and this specific investigator to think I'm still 21. If the CI had looked at the id, he'd have seen it was first issued in 2008. There's no physical way for that 20 year old id to match the age of the alleged perp. He didn't look at anything, but maintains it's a "perfect match" because "the computer can't lie".

They wanted me to come in to PD HQ to give a meeting to "clear the story up" (LOL). I had a very brief phone call with the civilian investigator who is building the case against me, only to tell him the meeting will be in my atourney's office or nowhere.

I know nothing about this case other than what I've stated, I know only that credit card fraud carries a 9month-2.5 year sentence and the amount stolen from this transaction puts the crime clearly in the category of a class 5 felony. I also know, according to my mother, that this person in the footage is a dead ringer for me, 20 years ago. I also look younger than I am to a lot of people (38).

My alibi is that I live a good 2.5 hours outside of Phoenix and was driving my eldest to school when the alleged crime occured, and was having breakfast with my partner less than an hour after the incident. I have gps data and receipts, and I know that my child's school and the businesses we went to have CCTV.

Since I'm not under arrest yet, they're allowing me to travel to them for an interview. I tentatively have a meeting scheduled for Thursday to meet with this civilian investigator, what can I expect? My lawyer is aghast at the situation and doesn't know much more about the case than I do yet (investigator didn't work Thursday/Friday last week so I'm on pins and needles). I do not like going in to this blind, I am highly A-type with these kinds of situations and I want to know what to expect, if possible.

Is there anything I need to ask my lawyer specifically to ensure he knows what he's dealing with here? I'm not a fan of police and I have literally dozens of wrongful arrest cases bookmarked where Phoenix PD has completely ignored any and all evidence that counter their ideological conviction. I want to make sure my counsel is especially competent in this area. He's old, and doesn't specialize in wrongful arrests.

I'm aware that I'm entitled to file suit against the city if I'm wrongfully arrested/detained. I also know who the local FBI director is, and where to direct LE complaints. I also have the contact information for the Arizona chapter of the ACLU should this escalate.

Has anyone dealt with this kind of crap before? What are my rights here? At what point does this become a bigger deal (lol) than it already is? I'm concerned this is a PR case for the PD (skimmers are everywhere in the valley and people are losing $$) and once they latched on to me, they might be loathe to let me go. They're convinced I'm their in to the larger ring. I'm convinced they're going to try and get information out of me by arresting me and attempting to offer a plea deal for information that I obviously don't have. I'm recovering from a bad burnout and don't really have the wherewithal to deal with a long drawn-out thing.

How hard are they going to fight to make me a patsy here? DAE have experience with this? Arizona is a one party consent state, can I record this meeting with the permission of my lawyer to protect myself? I have about 30% confidence in my lawyer, 0% in the PD, and there are other concerns not related to this case so I'm stressed AF.

How can I best protect myself here? Should I hire another lawyer? How likely is this to become a major life problem for me?

Tl:Dr Phoenix PD used AI to finger me for a crime I had no physical way of committing based on an old photo and then didn't do their due diligence before launching a full criminal investigation into me, thereby disrupting my entire life this last half-week and counting, and are causing me undue mental distress. What can I expect? What are my rights? Can I record audio of conversations even with my lawyer present (Az is one party consent)? The sentence for this alleged crime (cc fraud) is 9mos to 2.5 years with an average time served of 1.5 years in prison, it is a class 5 felony.

Any and all advice appreciated. Thank you so much!