Grand Jury Indicts Baltimore Cop Caught Appearing to Plant Evidence by His Own Body Camera

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The Baltimore police officer whose body camera captured video footage of him appearing to flagrantly plant drugs at a crime scene has been indicted on charges of misconduct and tampering with evidence.

As The Baltimore Sun reported, Officer Richard A. Pinheiro Jr., 29, was indicted on Tuesday. News of the indictment was released on Wednesday; in a statement, State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby said the charges reflected her promise to “to apply one standard of justice for all,” including police officers.

“This cannot be the face of policing in Baltimore City,” Mosby said. “It undermines public trust and creates indefensible doubts in the minds of the general public, judges and jurors.”

Pinheiro’s attorney maintains that his client didn’t break the law and was only trying to document the discovery of evidence he had previously recovered.

In the video, which was recorded on Jan. 24, 2017 and published by a local news station last summer, the officer is seen placing a baggie of what were later found to be narcotics in a can in an alleyway as other officers look on. Pinheiro then returned to the street and turned on his body camera, perhaps not knowing the device automatically pre-records 30 seconds of footage before it’s activated. That evidence was later used to charge a suspect, although the charges were dropped after the revelation about the footage.

While announcing Pinheiro’s indictment, prosecutors also said three other officers caught appearing to plant evidence in another body cam video had been cleared of all charges.

The Baltimore Police Department confirmed to WBAL on Wednesday night that Pinheiro remains on suspension.

WHAT ELSE?

It’s a year and five days into Trump’s presidency, and still he’s talking about the 2016 election where—did you hear?—he beat Hillary Clinton. He told reporters:

The fact is — you people won’t say this, but I’ll say it: I was a much better candidate than her. You always say she was a bad candidate. You never say I was a good candidate. I was one of the greatest candidates. Nobody else would have beaten the Clinton machine, as crooked as it was. But I was a great candidate. Someday you’re going to say that.

Michigan State University President Lou Ann Simon resigned Wednesday after Larry Nassar, who was on the faculty at the school, was sentenced to 175 years in prison for sexually abusing young female gymnasts under the guise of medical treatment.