Calif. Judge Axes Drug-Dealing Case After Surveillance Footage Contradicts Police
A San Francisco judge has dismissed a marijuana-dealing case at the preliminary hearing stage after surveillance video showed multiple discrepancies in an account by police of what happened when they entered the defendant’s apartment.
The footage supported a claim by defendant McLaren Wenzell, 23, that he never gave plainclothes officers permission to search on March 1 and they simply followed him into his home, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
The case, which involves Richmond District officers, has a similar fact pattern to what has allegedly happened in an ongoing scandal in Southern Station that has resulted in the dismissal of 76 cases and a federal investigation, the newspaper says.
Related coverage:
New York Times: “Dozens of Cases to Be Dropped in San Francisco Police Scandal”
The Snitch (SF Weekly): “Cops, Lies, and Videotape Part 2: Another Case Dismissed Because of Officer Misconduct”
