Lawsuit will proceed against trooper in wrong arrest

BATTLE CREEK (AP) — The Michigan Supreme Court has turned down an appeal from a state trooper who was involved in a case of mistaken identity.

The court apparently was tied, 3-3, Thursday, meaning an appeals court decision stands.

Billy Rowe spent a weekend in the Calhoun County jail in 2011 until police figured out they had the wrong Billy Rowe in a child pornography investigation.

The appeals court said a civil lawsuit can go forward against Trooper Dennis Milburn.

He had interviewed the true suspect back in 2005 in Mount Morris, near Flint, and wrote a report. But no arrest was made until six years later — when the wrong Rowe was arrested in Calhoun County and transported more than 100 miles to Genesee County.