Was Malenne Joseph wrongly convicted?
Malenne Joseph, a Haitian-born mother of two, sits in the Orange County Jail, awaiting sentencing for a single felony count of criminal mischief. At trial in June, witnesses identified her as “Marlene,” an angry subcontractor who splattered paint all over an Orlando residential job site after failing to get fully paid for the work. A jury found her guilty of causing thousands of dollars’ worth of damage. The problem, according to her attorneys, is that Malenne Joseph was not the woman hired to do the work. They say police misidentified and prosecutors wrongly convicted an indigent woman who has no connection to the case.
