2nd Videos are [HERE]. From [arstechnica] More get-out-of-jail-free cards are being issued by Baltimore prosecutors—and more are likely, after Monday's disclosure of a second police body cam video that defense attorneys say shows cops manufacturing evidence.
The Maryland Office of the Public Defender said that charges against at least one suspect were dropped on Monday in light of the new video that they said shows officers "working together to manufacture evidence." The development comes days after the state's top prosecutor announced Friday that 34 prosecuted or pending drug or weapons cases were dropped or dismissed because they were connected to three officers seen in a different body cam video showing one officer planting drugs.
The brouhaha is part of the aftermath of the Maryland public defender's office releasing a body cam video last week that showed one white officer planting drugs in a trash-strewn alley. That officer, Richard Pinheiro, has been suspended while two others depicted in the video have been placed on administrative duty. That first video was turned over to defense attorneys as part of the usual discovery process. Pinheiro apparently did not realize that the agency's body cams retain footage 30 seconds before an officer presses the record button.
The public defender's office did not release the second suspicious video it discovered Monday because one of the two suspects in the video was not one of its clients. [ALL videos are [HERE] At least two more Baltimore officers are now under investigation, and the prosecutions in the cases they are connected to are being postponed until the investigation is completed, the authorities said.
"Pending the Baltimore Police Department's investigation pertaining to the officers' conduct, the Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office is requesting postponements on all cases involving the officers," Melba Saunders, a spokeswoman for State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby, told the Baltimore Sun. "We look forward to continuing the advancement and pursuit of justice for all."
Police said the video in question "involves two arrests and the recovery of drugs from a car during a traffic stop," the Baltimore Sun said.
Defense attorneys suspect there are other still-undisclosed body cam videos, affecting hundreds of cases, that depict unethical conduct by Baltimore Police Department officers.
The discovery of the latest video brings to three the number of body cam videos [known to the public] in which police have recently staged a crime scene.
The third one is from Pueblo, Colorado, in which an officer staged a drug-find in a vehicle. Charges were dismissed against the suspect, but no public action was taken against Pueblo Police Department Officer Seth Jensen.
Here is the Colorado footage:
Virginia Police Caught Planting Drugs - 6/2014