Defense attorney speaks out on Tennessee woman held in jail for nearly six months for a crime she did not commit

FARGO, N.D. (KVRR) — An attorney who represented a Tennessee woman who spent nearly six months in jail says this should never have happened.

50-year-old Angela Lipps was held after authorities mistook her as the person involved in a Fargo fraud investigation.

Lipps claims she has lived in north-central Tennessee her entire life and never set foot in North Dakota.

Jay Greenwood, the defense attorney, looked into her bank records during the time she was said to have been in North Dakota, and discovered she was at home.

He believes police should have done a better job investigating and not rely solely on AI.

“I just think putting someone through what Angela went through for six months sitting in jail in Tennessee, and here is just unfathomable. Considering the fact that discovery, that investigative process could’ve been done long before I was involved,” said Greenwood.

Lipps is back home in Tennessee as the case remains open.