Two men from Texas, both born on the same day at the same hospital with the same name, have revealed how their lives took a complicated turn due to an extraordinary coincidence. James Eric Burton and James Dewitt Burton, both 61, were born on December 8, 1964, at Hermann Hospital in Houston. Years later, James Eric found himself riding a scooter around town after a major mix-up by the Texas Department of Public Safety.
'I can't drive,' James Eric told ABC 13. 'If I'm stopped, I risk a chance of being arrested.' Two weeks prior, he received a letter informing him that his license had been suspended due to a guilty plea for a DWI charge — but he had not been involved in the incident at all. Instead, James Dewitt had been charged with the offense, according to the outlet.
In a further twist of fate, the duo had even attended the same high school. 'I knew him in high school,' James Eric said, revealing that they were both students at Yates High School. The two men recently met during a long-awaited reunion, where James Dewitt admitted to having terrible grades in high school but luckily was able to pass due to teachers' confusion between the two. James Eric recalled a less favorable experience: 'One time I came home and my mom had this look, like I'm in trouble. My mom held out her report card. That James had missed a lot of days.'
James Dewitt acknowledged that his extensive, decades-long criminal history could have negatively affected the other James. 'It hasn't been me that's been disadvantaged. Most likely, my messing up is messing him up,' he told ABC 13. James Eric blamed the courts for the mistake, despite the courts claiming they have the correct information. 'I didn't make a mistake, the courts made a mistake,' he added.
The outlet contacted the Harris County District Attorney's Office, which reached out to James Eric and said the process of correcting the error was underway. However, James Eric remains unable to drive until the Texas Department of Public Safety also corrects its records. James Dewitt said, 'That's why I'm speaking out,' hoping the story will help reinstate James Eric's driver's license. The Daily Mail contacted the Harris County District Attorney's Office and the Texas Department of Public Safety but did not receive immediate responses.
