Commonwealth v. D.R.

Police observed a car make an illegal U-turn and then park illegally in the area of 400 E. Wyoming Ave. Officers approached the car to investigate and D.R., the passenger, allegedly tried to walk away. He was instructed to get back in the car, and after several minutes he was searched and police recovered 186 packets of heroin. A gun was also recovered from the center console. The defense filed a motion to suppress evidence and argued that the police lacked reasonable suspicion/probable cause to search D.R and that the initial stop was illegal. In a shocking turn of events, at the suppression hearing a Police Sergeant was confronted on cross-examination with several key discrepancies between the police paperwork and what was portrayed on police body cameras. The Sgt. was forced to admit under oath that he and the assigned detective had fabricated paperwork, including search warrants and witness statements. The Judge was actually forced to stop the cross-examination, finding that she could not allow it to proceed without the Sgt. having “Fifth Amendment counsel” present due to the fact that the Sht. admitted top committing numerous crimes under oath. Needless to say, the case was dismissed immediately, and the police officers involved will be subject to criminal prosecution themselves.