Baltimore Drops 43 More Cases After 3rd Staged Bodycam Video Surfaces

A third faked police bodycam video that shows “questionable activity” prompted Baltimore prosecutors to dismiss dozens of criminal cases, the New York Times reports.

Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby declined to describe the footage but said it was “a re-enactment of the seizure of evidence,” The Times said. Mosby added that the Baltimore Police Department brought it to her attention on Aug. 2.

T.J. Smith, a police spokesman, told the Baltimore Sun that the police officer informed officials about the video.

“This is not an allegation of planting evidence,” Smith told The Sun. “This is a self-reported situation where the officer felt that it deserved more scrutiny based on the things that have been in the news. We are aware of it and it is something that we are looking into.”

According to CBS News, prosecutors identified about 100 criminal cases affected by this video and, so far, dropped 43 of them.

This video adds to two others that appear to show cops planting evidence, as mistrust of the Baltimore police grows.

A video recorded in January appears to show an officer pretending to find drugs in an alley before arresting a suspect. Mosby’s office said 68 cases linked to that video have been dismissed, CBS reported.

In the second video, recorded in November, an officer finds drugs in a vehicle after another officer failed to locate them.

SOURCE:  New York Times, Baltimore Sun, CBS News

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