A New Jersey man who was facing years in prison after being falsely charged with resisting arrest has had all charges against him dropped after a police dash cam video was shown in court.
New Jersey DJ Marcus Jeter was arrested in a 2012 traffic stop and charged with eluding police, resisting arrest and assault. Bloomfield police had interviewed Jeter at the house he shared with his girlfriend in response to a domestic violence incident, but no charges were filed. Jeter said he was followed by police when he left the house later that day. When they turned on their siren he slowed down and pulled over to the shoulder of the Garden State Parkway.
The police car's dash cam shows two gun-toting officers by Jeter's SUV. Jeter is then seen being pulled from his car and being beaten by a third officer who had pulled over from the other side of the median. The officers accused Jeter of eluding, resisting arrest, and aggravated assault. Prosecutors, who saw this dash cam video, wanted him to go to jail. The first plea offered to Jeter was five years.
But the police did not turn over dash cam footage from the second police car from prosecutors. That footage clearly shows the second police car crossing the median and turning into oncoming traffic to ram Jeter's car. Jeter is then clearly seen sitting in his car with his hands raised while officers outside shout at him and bash his window and punch him before dragging him from his car and beating him while telling Jeter to stop resisting arrest. None of this was mentioned in the police report.
The charges were dropped after prosecutors saw the second video. Bloomfield police officers Orlando Trinidad and Sean Courter have been indicted on various charges including falsifying reports, conspiracy and official misconduct. Trinidad was also charged with aggravated assault. They both pleaded not guilty. A third officer pleaded guilty to tampering.
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