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Nearly 100 cases related to three Baltimore police officers, whose newly-surfaced body camera footage showed one of them planting drugs, is currently being examined by the state’s attorney’s office, reports the Baltimore Sun.

According to the outlet, State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby held a press conference on Thursday where she announced that prosecutors will investigate each case in efforts to decide whether there are other ways to determine the outcome.

“We have to look at the sufficiency of the evidence in each of these cases and make a determination as to the feasibility and the necessity of that particular officer in that case,” said Mosby, according to the source. Although Mosby says that the process will take time, she believes that it’s a necessity for public safety.

The decision to launch probes surrounding the cases comes after the public defender’s office released body camera footage that was recorded during a drug arrest in January, writes the source. The video shows Officer Richard Pinheiro planting drugs into a trash can in an attempt to pin it on a suspect. According to the Baltimore Sun, the footage was captured 30 seconds before the camera was activated—a functionality that all of the cameras have.

The outlet reports that after the video surfaced the charges were dropped against the individual who was arrested on a heroin possession charge and jailed since January, according to Debbie Levi, who leads the Public Defender’s special litigation unit.

“I’m pleased that my client’s freedom is no longer in jeopardy based on allegations from this officer. The prosecutors did the right thing. They recognized the issues they had with this case. … The witness was very questionable at this point,” said the person’s attorney Roland Brown.

Pinheiro has been suspended and the two other officers that were seen in the video—Jamal Brunson and Hovhannes Simonyan—are currently on administrative duty, writes the outlet. The January incident is being investigated.

According to the Baltimore Sun, an $11.6 million body camera program was launched in May 2016 after the death of Freddie Gray.

SOURCE: Baltimore Sun

 

Body Camera Footage Leads To Review Of 100 Cases In Baltimore  was originally published on newsone.com