Popular YouTube Video Gets Case Dismissed
YouTube has become a popular site that you visit for entertainment. You are able to post videos of your family and friends, news clips that are beyond believable and excerpts from movies and comedy shows.
It is also now a site that's getting cases dismissed in court.
According to The Washington Post, a judge cleared charges on Friday, September 5 against Christopher Long for resisting arrest after a video surfaced on YouTube showing what really happened. In the widely viewed video, Long, of Hoboken, NJ, was body-checked and knocked to the ground by a police officer during a Critical Mass bicycle ride through Times Square on July 25.
According to police, Long obstructed traffic and purposely directed his bicycle at an officer; however, the video showed differently. The clip was posted on YouTube shortly after the incident and showed policemen shoving Long off his bike near Times Square while Long is trying to steer out of the way. The Washington Post reported that since being posted, the video has been viewed around 1.5 million times.
Criminal Court Judge James Burke dropped the charges against Long at the prosecution's request. The officer involved, Patrick Pogan, was stripped of his badge and gun; he has been assigned to desk duty, but the police are still investigating the incident. The Manhattan district attorney has not decided whether or not to prosecute Pogan.
Video versus an Officer's Word
David B. Rankin, Long's lawyer, told The Washington Post that this was a case of a sworn officer's testimony going against a video. This case raises questions about other cases where an officer's statement has gotten a defendant convicted and there was no videotape to prove it or contradict it.
Shortly after the video of Long emerged, two other videos showing police officers beating up civilians were posted. These cases were also investigated by the police and district attorney's office.
It's scary to think that officers, who have taken an oath to uphold the law, could be lying during their testimony to enact their personal ideology of justice. How many people have been unfairly convicted because of the false testimony of public officials and officers?
With these thoughts suggested because of this case, it seems as though these networks are for more than just entertainment. They are telling the truth when the police officers trained to protect us are not.
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