Prosecutors dismiss cases linked to racist ex-Fort Lauderdale cops

[DonViejo]

Source: Sun-Sentinel

The latest fallout tied to four Fort Lauderdale police officers who lost their jobs because of racist text messages and a homemade video is the dismissal of nearly three dozen criminal cases the cops were linked to as arresting officers.

Nearly 20 more dismissals are in the works, prosecutors said. As of Thursday, the Broward State Attorney's Office had dropped 12 felony and 19 criminal misdemeanor cases and one juvenile case in which one or more of the four officers were involved.

"All the defendants were black; all the cases were dropped because at least one of the officers was the principal officer involved in the arrest," said Ron Ishoy, a spokesman for the Broward State Attorney's Office. "This is a serious matter. We continue to review each case in which these former policemen were the principal officers involved in the arrest. We are dropping charges against the defendants where it is appropriate."

Among the dismissed felony charges are burglary, cocaine possession and aggravated assault with a firearm, Ishoy said. Fort Lauderdale police declined to comment, agency spokeswoman Detective Tracy Figone said in an email.

-snip-

Read more: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/local/broward/fl-racist-cops-case-dismissals-20150409-story.html

[valerief]

1. Wow! nt

[malthaussen]

2. Am I the only one who finds the Sun-Sentinal's headline a tad misleading?

Could well be, but when I read the headline, I expected the article to be about cases against the officers being dismissed, not cases where the officers made the arrest being dismissed. I'd have to think about how I'd make it clearer if I was writing it.

Very interesting. Are the officers themselves facing any charges? It would seem, for example, that if the cases were thrown out, the officers would therefore be indictable for false arrest.

-- Mal