3 LAPD officers charged with perjury, conspiracy after videotape contradicts their account

[Liberal_in_LA]

Three Los Angeles police officers were charged today with perjury and conspiracy for allegedly lying under oath in a drug possession case that was dismissed last year when a videotape sharply contradicted their testimony.

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At issue are the actions of officers at a Hollywood apartment complex where a security camera documented the 2007 arrest of Guillermo Alarcon Jr.

At Alarcon's trial last year, Officers Richard Amio and Evan Samuel testified that they were on patrol in Los Angeles when they chased Alarcon, 29, into his Hollywood apartment building. The officers told jurors that they saw him throw away a black object.

They testified that Samuel quickly picked up the object and found about $260 worth of powder and crack cocaine inside. But footage from a security camera at the apartment building, which is managed by Alarcon's mother, showed that officers searched for more than 20 minutes before an object allegedly containing cocaine was found.

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"Be creative in your writing," the officer appears to tell another after the discovery. Alarcon's attorney argued at trial that his client was innocent and that the officers had planted evidence and then lied about it.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/10/3-lapd-officer-charged-with-perjury-conspiracy-after-videotape-contradicts-their-account.html

[BlooInBloo]

1. Video appears to be the only effective way to protect the public...

from the state-sponsored domestic terrorists.

[Occulus]

2. Now, now. We have to wait for all the facts first.

That video proves nothing.

:sarcasm:

[BlooInBloo]

3. True. Clearly the suspect auto-erotically sefl-asphyxiated.

[GrilledCheeses]

14. +1 nt.

[imdjh]

4. Why was he running from the cops?

IS the complaint here that someone thinks Alarcon is innocent? Or that the police lied about how long it took to find the object which contained the cocaine.

I've been out of the loop for awhile, but would it be normal for a user to have coke and crack at the same time? My friends and I never had that combination in our possession.

[Liberal_in_LA]

5. Don't know WHY he was running IF he was really running. Yes, it's thought the drugs were planted

[TexasObserver]

6. Recommend

[TankLV]

7. Gee - what a surprise!!!

If there were mandatory filming of ALL police interactions, there would be discovered an OVERWHELMING MAJORITY of police wre LIARS...

Sorry, but the TRUTH hurts...

The "good cops" are few and far between...

[AuntPatsy]

8. the more we allow these to become archived the worse they will become...

[Fastcars]

9. Could He Have Been Running

Because he knows once he is in a cops sights for arrest, that far too many of them are willing to lie on the stand to obtain a conviction? Seems like running may not always be the wrong thing to do.

[Forkboy]

10. The LAPD would never conduct themselves in such a manner.

[ohheckyeah]

11. I think this could be a new business opportunity.

Hatcams. Every citizen could buy and wear a hat that has a video camera. It seems like our only self-defense against bad cops.

[paulsby]

12. good

dishonest cops sully the profession

and fwiw, it does not appear they PLANTED the evidence. after all, they took 20 minutes to FIND it, and if they were going to plant it, they would have just done it. it's just that they did an illegal search and and then lied about it and said the suspect threw the stuff down in plain view.

and that's a firing/prosecutable offense. as it should be.

[Hepburn]

13. Quelle surprise....

....NOT!

LAPD = assholes in blue.

JMHO

[LoZoccolo]

15. My dad told me this story about police hiding cocaine in their cars.

I don't remember much of the details so certain of them could be wrong but the story was like this: there was some kind of recall of a car that was often used for police cars, and the dealer mechanics would go to replace some part of the steering wheel, and would frequently find cocaine hidden in this one hollow space in the middle of the steering wheel. The idea being that the cops would keep this stashed to plant on people in case they needed something to arrest someone for.