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Julie Hudson, a 31-year-old Ph.D. student, was released from custody just before midnight on Wednesday, Jan. 11, ending a saga that began a year ago and over a thousand miles away.
Police in Webster, Texas — a suburb of Houston — identified a different woman named Julie Hudson as a suspect in a shoplifting incident from May 2022, NBC 10 has reported.
In addition to sharing a name, the Philly Ph.D. student and the accused Texas shoplifter bear some resemblance, according to the outlet. That somehow led to Webster police issuing a warrant for the wrong Julie Hudson, the report says.
After being repeatedly rejected on job applications, the Philadelphia Julie learned she had a criminal record, NBC reported. When she walked into a police station on Thursday, Jan. 5, officers arrested her on the Texas warrant, Philly police told Daily Voice.
According to NBC 10, it was Hudson's own family that had to reach out to Harris County, Texas prosecutors and let them know they had the wrong woman.
Neither Webster police nor the Harris County District Attorney's Office was immediately available for comment Thursday night, though the DA has told NBC 10 that her office "dismissed the case within five minutes" of learning about the mistaken identity.
Philly police said they learned from reporters that Texas authorities had dismissed the warrant on Wednesday at about 5 p.m.
"At that time, we immediately requested that Ms. Hudson be released from custody," the department said. The 31-year-old was freed a few hours later.
Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner said his office was never contacted by Webster authorities about the mistake and said he only learned about it from the media. At that point, Krasner said his office "mobilized quickly to make sure Ms. Hudson was released from custody as soon as possible."
"Julie Hudson is a Philadelphia resident who has no criminal record and is pursuing a Ph.D.," DA Krasner wrote. "What happened to her should not have happened, and her family deserves a great deal of credit for successfully advocating for her freedom with the media in Houston and in Philadelphia."
Mayor Jim Kenney also issued a statement on the matter.
"We commend the rapid response and coordination between the Police Department, Courts, District Attorney’s Office, and Department of Prisons to ensure that Julie Hudson was released as quickly and as safely as possible," he said.
"We are dismayed by the ordeal that she and her family went through due to an erroneous warrant from another jurisdiction, and thankful that she is now home.”
After her release, Hudson said she's committed to figuring out exactly how she was allowed to be charged for a crime she did not commit.
"I want to find out what happened," she told NBC 10. "I want to find out how this happened and I want it to not happen to anyone else ever again."
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