Ed Brayton is a freelance writer and speaker. He is the co-founder and president of 
The L.A. Times reports on a case where a pair of police officers blatantly lied on the witness stand in a drug case, unaware that the defense had videotape from the scene that proved them to be lying:
A Los Angeles judge abruptly ended a trial and exonerated a man of possessing cocaine Monday after a courtroom confrontation in which a defense attorney produced a surprise video of his client's arrest that sharply contradicted the testimony of two police officers.Superior Court Judge Monica Bachner dismissed charges against Guillermo Alarcon Jr., a grocery store worker, after prosecutors reviewed the tape and acknowledged that it was inconsistent with the officers' sworn testimony.
The details include one cop telling the other to lie in his report on the arrest:
During the trial, which began Friday, the officers told jurors that they had chased Alarcon, 29, into his Hollywood apartment building last year and seen him throw away a black object. They testified that one of the officers picked up the object a few feet from where Alarcon was standing and discovered powder and crack cocaine inside.But footage from the grainy video, which Alarcon's attorney said came from an apartment building surveillance camera, shows that it took the two officers more than 20 minutes to find the drugs. They were also aided by other officers in their search.
The quality of the tape, a copy of which was obtained by The Times, is poor and it is difficult to clearly hear what is being said. But at one point, an officer seems to make a reference to the arrest report that needed to be filled out.
"Be creative in your writing," the officer appears to tell another after the discovery.
"Oh yeah, don't worry, sin duda [no doubt]," comes the reply.
And the lies didn't stop there:
During his testimony, Amio was asked whether it took about 20 minutes to find the drugs."No," he replied, with a laugh.
Samuel gave a similar account.
"He threw it to his right and it hit off a dumpster in the same general area," Samuel testified.
The officers said that Samuel picked up the box. Inside, he found 12 bindles of powder cocaine and two rocks of crack cocaine with a street value of about $260.
Alarcon was arrested on suspicion of drug possession with the intent to sell.
Under cross-examination, Samuel and Amio denied hearing or saying several comments that the defense contended were made by officers on the video, including a threat against Alarcon to put him on his knees if he talked again.
The questioning climaxed when Alarcon's attorney finally asked Amio: "Are you aware of a video and audio recording that completely contradicts what you have testified to today?"
"No, sir," Amio replied.
Nail the bastards.
Politics
Comments
So we have cops lying under oath...excellent! When do their trials begin?
Posted by: stevogvsu | July 8, 2008 9:49 AM
At least one court had the guts to resist the hysteria and do the right thing.
Posted by: Raging Bee | July 8, 2008 9:56 AM
"This is LAPD, the most hated cops in the free world. My own mama's ashamed of me. She tells everybody I'm a drug dealer."
-Detective James Carter (Chris Tucker), Rush Hour, 1998
A decade later and nothing's changed.
Posted by: Abby Normal | July 8, 2008 10:03 AM
"LA Cops Lie in Drug Case"
"Dog Bites Man"
"Sun Rises in East"
Posted by: hmd | July 8, 2008 10:14 AM
"LA Cops Lie In Drug Case"
"Ratzinger Catholic"
"Bear Eliminates in Forest"
Posted by: chancelikely | July 8, 2008 10:21 AM
I'm currently reading John Grisham's, "The Innocent Man"-his only non-fiction work. It is about the bumbling of the Ada, OK police department with a few murder cases, placing an innocent man on death row.
Sounds like those officers have jobs waiting for them in LA.
Posted by: Rev. AJB | July 8, 2008 10:22 AM
I guess this is why Republicans like to say that they're better for cops and such. It's part of a broader effort to look the other way for ideological and worldview comfort.
"Our cops aren't bad guys! No way! You must be a commie drug dealer!"
On the other hand, I think my generation doesn't have enough respect for cops, but that's irrelevant to ideology. We all just think cops are there to arrest "them" and not "us", who deserve to just smoke weed and drink natty ice all day in Ann Arbor or Lansing without so much as a glance from a cop.
I prefer to take the philosophy of If you get caught doing something wrong, it's your fault, not the damn police who are enforcing the law. Don't like it? Write your senator.
Posted by: matt | July 8, 2008 10:32 AM
I expect worse damage to come. This would seem to justify an appeal by every criminal ever convicted based on testimony from either of those two officers.
These cops need to hammered for their perjury even harder because of that potential damage than for the damage they did in this single case.
Posted by: BobApril | July 8, 2008 11:03 AM
Public officials and civil employees need to have more harsh punishments for crimes like lying under oath than the penalties for individual citizens. A good start would be an unceremonious boot out the door, I think - they're supposed to be above reproach, after all.
Posted by: MRL | July 8, 2008 11:19 AM
I agree with the idea of automatic perjury charges for police officers, or any other officer of the court (including judges) caught in this kind of blatant lying.
They should be forced to stand trial, and they should be fined some portion of the cost it (should) take to review every case in which they testified.
I love it when they get caught so blatantly, like this.
Personal anecdote: I used to 'preside' over the parking ticket hearing at my community college as part of my role in student government. Several of the officers regularly took photos of the more blatant violations. These photos always proved to be counter to the students' statements, and admittedly, a source of great lulz after the fact. =)
I know, I'm a bad person....
Cheers.
Posted by: FastLane | July 8, 2008 11:43 AM
A problem arises when there's a multitude of laws covering things that aren't necessarily "wrong". "Don't Talk To Cops" should be required viewing for everyone who wants to even start talking about law enforcement. (Part 2, IIRC, features a cop who says something like "If I follow you in my cruiser for 20 minutes, I can find something to ticket you for."
Posted by: Citizen Z | July 8, 2008 12:10 PM
Speaking of police misconduct, this little gem appeared in my morning newspaper. Heaven forbid cops should test a drunken ex-colleague for alcohol when she crashes her car.
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_9809359?nclick_check=1
Posted by: Karen | July 8, 2008 12:14 PM
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_9809359?nclick_check=1&forced=true
Karen, the link you gave didn't work, but this one did for me.
Posted by: kodiak | July 8, 2008 12:19 PM
1. Anybody remember detective Mark Fuhrman who was largely responsible for the O. J. Simpson acquittal? Now a commentator on, where else, the fascist news channel.
2. Anybody remember the beating that Prof. Alan Dershowitz took in the press when he commented on what he termed testilying by police officers on the witness stand?
Posted by: SLC | July 8, 2008 12:55 PM
The LAPD is one police force you can join despite having a criminal record and even a prison record.
LAPD was behind the change in the California penal code that exempted from perjury laws lying while being sworn in as a police officer. Which means all California cops are now 'non-sworn', their 'oath' is only let's-pretend.
Posted by: Rose Colored Glasses | July 8, 2008 12:58 PM
Building on what Citizen Z said, morons who assume that everyone who's been arrested was "caught doing something wrong" or even "doing something wrong at all" (or, for that matter, even something "illegal") are half the reason cops like this can even stay in business on the force.
Posted by: Azkyroth | July 8, 2008 1:52 PM
Please explain, in objective terms, how smoking weed constitutes "doing something wrong" (as opposed to merely illegal).
Posted by: Mithrandir | July 8, 2008 2:13 PM
Judge Bachner is my cousin! Lost track of her after college. I guess she turned out okay.
Posted by: Bill Poser | July 8, 2008 3:44 PM
Oh darn, another drug dealer getting off on a technicality!
"If I follow you in my cruiser for 20 minutes, I can find something to ticket you for."
That seems like a reasonable statement on the way almost everyone drives than an indictment of police conduct. Do you suppose most people signal for every lane change?
Posted by: BaldApe | July 8, 2008 3:46 PM
I don't think it's intended to be an indictment of police conduct, so much as it as a commentary about the fact that there are so many laws that there is no one who is not unknowingly in violation of at least one.
IOW, everyone is a criminal.
Posted by: Skeptical Cat | July 8, 2008 4:22 PM
BaldApe, I can only recommend you watch the video I linked to earlier. And then watch part 2, which is where that quote came from. I'd note that it comes from a cop, and when you hear it in context you'll realize he doesn't mean it that way.
Posted by: Citizen Z | July 8, 2008 6:04 PM
"The end does not justify the means."
I hope the chief of police in LA sends a memo on that point to every officer.
Posted by: crf | July 8, 2008 6:37 PM
It's a mammalian midbrain thing.
As you know, when a mammal encounters something it can Feed on it, Fight with it, Flee it, or Mate with it (the 4-F response).
The "Fight" response is about symbolic agression. The idea is not necessarily to kill the foe, only to defeat it. From this we get honour and fair play, territory and property, and all that.
The "Feed" response is the one where the target is *prey*. There's no fair play, no rules, no "justice". You bring the target down as efficiently as possible, kill it, and eat it.
Cops, when they identify you as a "bad guy", are operating on the "feed" response. The moment they tag you as a perp, you are - as far as they are concerned - subhuman. The racism in the US only exaggerates this, it's not responsible for it.
Posted by: Paul Murray | July 8, 2008 11:01 PM
Please recall that the act of "policing" is the responsibility of the general population and the several states. In its inception the Constitution was a battleground of the inbred behavior trusted by short-term thinkers versus the heresies of others with not only a better understanding of history and human endeavor, but also intimate knowledge of the nature of the world. And tests to test ideas. And outcomes.
The argument that carried the day we just finished celebrating, and the documents themselves, into the common arena of political agenda was simply a reaffirmation of an old idea. The idea that those who govern a population do so at the pleasure of the governed. Additionally, there is the affirmation that it is sometimes necessary for a people to throw off or change a government that it finds oppressive. See the Declaration of Independence for more. And be sure to compare the list of complaints against the British Crown with current complaints about the administration of "Two Ewes."* You will note numerous similarities.
Funny how it seems that any time a really good movement gets up to speed, speed bumps appear. Courtesy of those who are jealous of someone else's freedom and ability. Traffic slows, journeys are delayed, deadlines are missed, promises are not kept. Oh, the embarrassment! Many die.
All for the sake of another law restricting a newly declared application of the basic freedoms. I swear that some must think that the road to MeTopia lies in total uniformity.
Then what the hell am I going to do?
*Two Ewes is my name for GW Bush. He has been called "W" by various voices for a long time. For a roughly equal long time I have known that a double-u (w) is really just two us. (u u. Lose the space, you have a (w).) Now, (u) (or the sound of speaking the vowel) sounds just like ewe (or the sound of speaking the word). A ewe is a sheep with no balls. Thus the appellation.
Posted by: Crudely Wrott | July 8, 2008 11:40 PM
If by numerous, you mean (arguably) 2 or 3.
Posted by: Citizen Z | July 9, 2008 9:00 AM
I hope people don't get from this the idea that this sort of thing is limited to LA cops or that LA is necessarily any worse with this than any other jurisdiction.
Posted by: Disgusted Beyond Belief | July 9, 2008 9:10 AM
Reading this thread, I feel like the guy in Galaxy Quest who says "Didn't you ever watch the show?" Nothing will happen to these cops. Certainly, if you've been reading Brayton and Balko, you know this.
Posted by: eTourist | July 9, 2008 10:19 AM
lulzy
Posted by: Shawn Wilkinson | July 9, 2008 3:01 PM
"A ewe is a sheep with no balls."
So you feel that it is diminishing to be called something feminine? Interesting.
Posted by: kodiak | July 9, 2008 3:08 PM
Actually, a ram is a ewe with balls added (all mammels are female in the womb before they are male). But even ignoring that....well, creating clever neologisms doesn't seem to be your strong suit.
Posted by: Gretchen | July 9, 2008 3:16 PM
In all fairness Gretchen, he does kind of acknowledge that by his choice of handle. :-p
Posted by: Abby Normal | July 9, 2008 3:21 PM
You're quickly becoming my favorite commenter on this blog, Abby. ;-)
Posted by: Gretchen | July 9, 2008 3:37 PM
Aww, thanks. :D
Your kind words win you a Princess Bride parody. I hope you like it!
[Bush in black pirate costume with cowboy hat finds and confronts Osama who is preparing to eat, with a bound and blindfolded Cheney beside him.]
Osama: So, it is down to you, and it is down to me...if you wish him dead, by all means keep moving forward.
Dread Pirate Bush: Let me explainicate...
Osama: There is nothing to explain. You're trying to kidnap what I have, by the will of Allah, stolen.
Dread Pirate Bush: Perhaps an arrangement can be reached? What's Allah offering, 72 virgins? I'll give you 80 if you switch to our side.
Osama: [considers for a moment before snapping back] There will be no arrangements...and you're killing him.
Dread Pirate Bush: But if there can be no arrangement, then we are at an im-pa... impa... dead-lock.
Osama: I'm afraid so. I can't compete with you physically, and you're no match for my brains.
Dread Pirate Bush: You're that smart?
Osama: Let me put it this way: Have you ever heard of Plato, Aristotle, Socrates?
Dread Pirate Bush: No.
Osama: [sigh] Mr. Wizard, Mr. Rodgers, Bill Parcells?
Dread Pirate Bush: Yes.
Osama: Morons!
Dread Pirate Bush: Really! In that case, I challenge you to a battle of wits.
Osama: For the vice-president? [Dread Pirate Bush nods] To the death? [Dread Pirate Bush nods again] I accept!
Dread Pirate Bush: Good, then pour the wine.
Osama: Allah forbids the consumption of alcohol.
Dread Pirate Bush: Fine, then what do you drink?
Osama: I have a Dr. Pepper.
Dread Pirate Bush: You're a Pepper? I'm a Pepper too! [looks uncomfortable for a moment] Um, that'll do. [Osama pours the Dr. Pepper] Inhale this but do not touch.
Osama: [taking a vial from the Dread Pirate Bush] I smell nothing.
Dread Pirate Bush: What you do not smell is petrolicaine powder. It is odorless, tasteless, and dissolves instantly in liquid and is among the more deadly poisons known to man.
Osama: [shrugs with laughter] Hmmm.
Dread Pirate Bush: [turning his back, and adding the poison to one of the goblets] Alright, where is the poison? The battle of wits has begun. It ends when you decide and we both drink - and find out who is right, and who is dead.
Osama: But it's so simple. All I have to do is divine it from what I know of you. Are you the sort of man who would put the poison into his own goblet or his enemy's? Now, a clever man would put the poison into his own goblet because he would know that only a great fool would reach for what he was given. But you are clearly not a clever man. So I can clearly not choose the Dr. Pepper in front of you.
Dread Pirate Bush: You've made your decision then?
Osama: [happily] Not remotely! Because petrolicaine comes from New Jersey. As everyone knows, New Jersey is entirely peopled with criminals. And criminals are used to having people not trust them, as you are not trusted by me.
Dread Pirate Bush: [Picks up a Dr. Seuss book] Uh huh. [chuckles at something in the book]
Osama: Wait 'till I get going!! ...where was I?
Dread Pirate Bush: New Jersey.
Osama: Yes! New Jersey! And you must have suspected I would have known the powder's origin, so I can clearly not choose the Dr. Pepper in front of me.
Dread Pirate Bush: You're just stalling now.
Osama: You'd like to think that, wouldn't you! You've beaten my Taliban, which means you're exceptionally strong...so you could have put the poison in your own goblet trusting on your strength to save you, so I can clearly not choose the Dr. Pepper in front of you. But, you're also a politician, so you would have put the poison as far from yourself as possible, so I can clearly not choose the Dr. Pepper in front of me!
Dread Pirate Bush: You're trying to trick me into giving away something. It won't work. Fool me once, shame on... shame on you. Fool me... you can't get fooled again!
Osama: It has worked! You've given everything away! I know where the poison is!
Dread Pirate Bush: Then make your choice.
Osama: I will, and I choose...[pointing behind the Dread Pirate Bush] Hey, is that Big Bird?
Dread Pirate Bush: [turning around, while Osama switches goblets] What?! Where?! I don't see anything.
Osama: Oh, well, I...I could have sworn I saw him. No matter. [Osama laughs]
Dread Pirate Bush: What's so funny?
Osama: I...I'll tell you in a minute. First, lets drink, me from my glass and you from yours.
[They both drink]
Dread Pirate Bush: You guessed wrong.
Osama: Bad intelligence again! You only think I guessed wrong. That's what's so funny! I switched glasses when your back was turned! Ha ha, you fool!! Allah be praised. You fell victim to both the classic blunders. The most famous is never get involved in a land war in Asia; and only slightly less well known is this: Never go in against a Muslim, when death is on the line!
[Osama continues to laugh hysterically. Suddenly, he stops and falls right over. The Dread Pirate Bush removes the blindfold from Cheney.]
Cheney: George? And to think, all that time it was your cup that was poisoned.
Dread Pirate Bush: They were both poisoned.
Cheney: Ah, so you've spent the last few years building up immunity to petrolicaine powder?
Dread Pirate Bush: Huh? [The Dread Pirate Bush suddenly falls over]
Posted by: Abby Normal | July 9, 2008 5:29 PM
Abby: That will never work, no-one would surrender to the Dread Pirate Bush. As such I consider your entire story inconceivable.
Posted by: James K | July 11, 2008 1:41 AM
A Baltimore prosecutor, faced with the same problem, is responding properly:
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/crime/bal-te.hagee11jul11,0,2237573.story
"Jessamy has already banned 15 current or former officers from testifying, according to a so-called "do not call" list obtained by TheSun. A ban is nearly equivalent to a suspension because the officer can no longer make arrests that would require testimony in court."
The police union, as one might expect, does not like this.
Posted by: anon | July 11, 2008 10:18 AM
Hopefully the policemen involved and their families get cancer and die.
Posted by: Steve | September 4, 2008 6:06 AM