Executive Summary
- Lavell Boyland’s human trafficking case in Oakland was dismissed after the accuser admitted to fabricating text messages.
- The alleged victim testified in court that she staged conversations to frame Boyland because he attempted to leave the relationship.
- Boyland was arrested weeks later in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama, on new trafficking charges involving similar allegations.
- Alabama authorities allege Boyland enforced a $1,000 daily quota and used firearm threats against a victim.
Lavell Boyland, 37, was arrested in Alabama on human trafficking charges less than a month after a similar case against him in Oakland, California, was dismissed when the accuser admitted to fabricating evidence against him, according to court records and police reports. The dismissal in California occurred after the alleged victim testified that she had forged text messages to incriminate Boyland, leading prosecutors to drop the charges in August.
Boyland had initially been charged in Alameda County Superior Court in May with human trafficking, pimping, resisting police, and child cruelty. During a preliminary hearing, the accuser, identified as Jane Doe, testified that her accusations regarding forced prostitution were false. According to court transcripts, Doe stated, "Literally those messages, that’s me texting me," explaining that she used two different devices to stage a conversation about sex work quotas to prevent Boyland from leaving the relationship.
Following this testimony, Judge Delia Trevino dismissed the human trafficking count, though she allowed the pimping charges to proceed at that time. However, prosecutors subsequently dismissed the entire case against Boyland based on the witness's admission of perjury. Defense motions to have the case thrown out were rendered moot by the prosecution's decision to drop the charges.
According to authorities in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama, Boyland was arrested on November 22 on new trafficking charges. Law enforcement officials state that Boyland had returned to Alabama, where he and Doe previously resided. Alabama investigators allege that Boyland imposed a $1,000 daily quota on a woman he had previously trafficked in California and threatened her with a firearm. Police reported discovering online advertisements featuring the woman dating back to September 2024.
The initial arrest in Oakland also involved allegations that Boyland used the accuser's young son as a shield during a confrontation with law enforcement. Police reports from May indicated that Boyland held the child to deter officers from taking him into custody, ignoring the child's distress. These charges were also part of the dismissed case in California.
Judicial Implications and Cross-State Enforcement
The dismissal of the Oakland case highlights the significant challenges prosecutors face in human trafficking litigation, particularly when relying on witness testimony that is subsequently recanted or proven fabricated. The rapid arrest of the suspect in a different jurisdiction underscores the complexity of monitoring recidivism across state lines in trafficking investigations. As the legal proceedings shift to Alabama, the court will likely examine the admissibility of the prior California allegations and the credibility of the evidence gathered in the new jurisdiction. It is important to note that all individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
