101 Baltimore Cases In Jeopardy Due To “Questionable Activity” Caught On Body Camera
If you’ll remember, we posted two videos in recent weeks recorded on Baltimore police body cameras of the cops planting drugs on innocent people. Now, due to a third body camera video, 101 cases are “in jeopardy,” according to State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby. Though the exact contents of this footage has not been revealed, Mosby’s office has labeled it as “questionable activity.”
According to FOX Baltimore:
In a release Monday, Mosby’s office says the video in question was brought to the attention of her office by the Baltimore Police Department in early August.
According to prosecutors the video appears to show the re-enactment of the seizure of evidence.
The statement says “Our attorneys have been instructed to determine whether any of the officers involved in this third body-worn camera incident are material witnesses whose testimony is essential to the successful prosecution of any case. If so, their cases are to be nol-processed.”
Mosby’s office says of the 101 cases impacted, 22 are still being pursued but 43 cases have been dropped or will be dropped.
In addition 36 closed cases will be reviewed.
“Whether planting evidence, re-enacting the seizure of evidence or prematurely turning off the department-issued body worn cameras misrepresent the truth and undermine public trust,” said Mosby in a statement.
Baltimore City Police Spokesman TJ Smith said that an officer voluntarily brought the body camera footage to his/her superiors. He stated, “This is not an allegation of planting evidence, this is a self-reported situation where the officer felt that it deserved more scrutiny based on things that have been in the news.”
The state’s attorney’s office took “immediate action” and notified the Internal Affairs Division of the Baltimore Police Department when they learned of the video. “As with the other two body-worn videos, the Public Trust and Police Integrity Unit worked diligently to identify approximately 101 Circuit and District court cases that have been and or will be impacted and almost immediately began a thorough evaluation of each case involving the officers associated assessing and reviewing the officers’ involvement in each case; the sufficiency of evidence in each case; and whether there are alternative ways to prove each case.”
