Second body cam video of Baltimore cops manufacturing evidence discovered

Enlarge (credit: Barbara Friedman)

More get-out-of-jail-free cards are being issued by Baltimore prosecutors-and more are likely, after Monday's disclosure of a second police body cam video that defense attorneys say shows cops manufacturing evidence.

The Maryland Office of the Public Defender said that charges against at least one suspect were dropped on Monday in light of the new video that they said shows officers "working together to manufacture evidence." The development comes days after the state's top prosecutor announced Friday that 34 prosecuted or pending drug or weapons cases were dropped or dismissed because they were connected to three officers seen in a different body cam video showing one officer planting drugs.

The brouhaha is part of the aftermath of the Maryland public defender's office releasing a body cam video last week that showed one officer planting drugs in a trash-strewn alley. That officer, Richard Pinheiro, has been suspended while two others depicted in the video have been placed on administrative duty. That first video was turned over to defense attorneys as part of the usual discovery process. Pinheiro apparently did not realize that the agency's body cams retain footage 30 seconds before an officer presses the record button.

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