Post by KC on May 17, 2006 19:40:13 GMT -5
May 17, 2006 - FLINT --The charges against a Flint police officer accused of stealing evidence have been dropped.
The Flint Police Department fired Antonio Barber in November 2004 after he was caught with a PlayStation video game system seized during a drug raid.
According to the Genesee County prosecutor, the charges were dropped because Barber wasn't alone.
An internal investigation revealed other members of the department had done the same and it is unfair to single Barber out.
Union President Keith Speer says he knew it would come out this way. He says Barber borrowed a videogame taken as evidence during a drug raid, something every one in the special operations unit often did.
"I felt after reviewing all of the information that it was an internal police matter and would have been a miscarriage of justice for barber to be singled out," said Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton.
So Leyton dropped the charges. And since the allegations against Barber first surfaced, Flint's police chief put a new policy into place on how evidence should be handled so this doesn't happen again.
But now and from the beginning Speer has thought there is something more to this story and possibly a cover up.
Although he hasn't read the internal investigation, he says he believes it may have revealed things about high-ranking officials.
"It's being swept under the rug because there's things maybe the city doesn't want to come to light," he said.
"There's not a cover up and I'm not aware anyone else has been named," Leyton said.
Speer is also working to get back Officer Jeff White's job. A judge threw out the charges against him because he felt their wasn't enough evidence.
White was accused of tampering with evidence during a shooting at the Flint bar "Beavers" back in 2004. Both Barber and White were charged by former Genesee County Prosecutor Art Busch.
The Flint Police Department fired Antonio Barber in November 2004 after he was caught with a PlayStation video game system seized during a drug raid.
According to the Genesee County prosecutor, the charges were dropped because Barber wasn't alone.
An internal investigation revealed other members of the department had done the same and it is unfair to single Barber out.
Union President Keith Speer says he knew it would come out this way. He says Barber borrowed a videogame taken as evidence during a drug raid, something every one in the special operations unit often did.
"I felt after reviewing all of the information that it was an internal police matter and would have been a miscarriage of justice for barber to be singled out," said Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton.
So Leyton dropped the charges. And since the allegations against Barber first surfaced, Flint's police chief put a new policy into place on how evidence should be handled so this doesn't happen again.
But now and from the beginning Speer has thought there is something more to this story and possibly a cover up.
Although he hasn't read the internal investigation, he says he believes it may have revealed things about high-ranking officials.
"It's being swept under the rug because there's things maybe the city doesn't want to come to light," he said.
"There's not a cover up and I'm not aware anyone else has been named," Leyton said.
Speer is also working to get back Officer Jeff White's job. A judge threw out the charges against him because he felt their wasn't enough evidence.
White was accused of tampering with evidence during a shooting at the Flint bar "Beavers" back in 2004. Both Barber and White were charged by former Genesee County Prosecutor Art Busch.