The clerk at the Country Fair convenience store on Erie's west side where the robbery took place seemed certain. The police who used surveillance video from the store to assemble a photo lineup seemed certain. And that's why Erie police released information to the Erie Times-News identifying 24-year-old Jason Rio Woodard as a suspect wanted in robbery charges in the Dec. 7 theft of $70 from the store.

It all seemed routine, except Woodard had an airtight alibi: at the time of the crime, he was a prisoner at the State Correctional Institution at Dallas, near Wilkes-Barre, Pa. In fact, he's been there since Jan. 23, 2007. That's when he began serving a sentence of up to six years for charges related to theft, drugs and other offenses, according to the state Department of Corrections.

Veteran Times-News reporter and editor Ed Palattella profiled the odd case in today's newspaper, and more than a half-dozen readers responded with strongly opinionated comments.

Like Woodard's mother, Dolores Payne, several callers were outraged that police would go public with plans to charge a man, who is actually in prison, before making a thorough investigation of his whereabouts. As Palattella reported, police made a public plea a week ago for information on Woodard's whereabouts. They provided a physical description of the suspect.

Payne told the newspaper, "They (the police) never said nothing to me. They never came looking." She indicated she might seek retribution against the police. "Someone is going to get sued for doing this to my child," Payne said.

Erie police Detective Ed Tucholski said he tried telephoning Dolores Payne's apartment and left his business card, but got no response.

Erie police spokesman Lt. Kirk Werner was left with the unenviable task of explaining to reporters what went wrong with the investigation. "The (store) witness was not correct, and a warrant was prepared, obviously, for the wrong person," Werner said. He also said Erie police do not have a general practice of checking prison records on a suspect before an arrest. But when Palattella asked if that might change, in light of the Woodward case, Werner said, "It is a thought."

Palattella added context to his report by pointing out that the accuracy of police photo lineups has been the subject of debate for several years in Erie's legal community, with psychologists and others questioning how much police should trust witness identification under certain circumstances.

The newspaper story quotes the New York-based Innocence Project, which uses DNA testing to exonerate those wrongfully convicted of crimes. "Eyewitness misidentification is the single greatest cause of wrongful convictions nationwide," a project spokesperson said."(It) plays a role in more than 75-percent of convictions overturned through DNA testing."

Erie police officials said, "It is just one of those quirks that happens." But I can tell you that type of explanation would not mollify any of the callers who are incensed about the botched investigation.