OK, I'll bite on this one. Sorry, but I can be annoyingly logical.
When a sane adult makes a decision to do something wrong, they have typically done some mental evaluation of the risk vs reward of doing it and have decided that the reward outweighs the risk.
In this case, we know what the risk is. Evidence tampering is a felony in most states, I assume it is in NC as well. The maximum sentence that I see for this crime in many states is 10 years. I would guess that if caught, the person doing the tampering would also face perjury and possibly obstruction of justice charges. If multiple people are involved, there would also be conspiracy charges.
Thus, they would not only lose their job and their family's livelihood, they are facing prison time. Obviously they would never work in LE again and will face a challenge finding any employment after their sentence is complete as many companies do not hire convicted felons.
So, we understand the risk. What exactly is the reward that would outweigh this risk? Improving the odds of one single conviction in a career of investigations, arrests, and prosecutions? This isn't taking down the head of some major crime family or something similar that would be a "career making" case. Furthermore, it's not even guaranteeing a conviction. It's just boosting your chances.
What is the logical explanation of why a LEO would put everything he and his family have at risk to improve the chances of convicting BC?
IMO, this happens in cases when the overzealous LE wants to make sure that there is a conviction. We had a case last year where the defendant practically walked because one of the detective decided to threaten to "make stuff up" to make sure there was a conviction. But alas there was a police recording of the whole thing.
I can only speak for my area and while I am glad we have a strong police force they are not the most honest bunch I have ever come across. Maybe they think their dishonesty is in the interest of our community, to "get their man" but they don't realize the greater harm that comes to our community as a result. The DA's office similarly overcharges and is just ridiculous sometimes.
I have no idea if there were lies or honest mistakes involved in the Cooper case but both happen everyday,all day, everywhere.JMHO of course.
jmho of course.
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‘I’ll Make Somethin’ Up’
OC sheriff’s deputy tanked Disneyland-adjacent drug case by threatening to fabricate evidenceLet’s assume an Orange County Sheriff’s Department (OCSD) report of the Nov. 8, 2007, arrest of a suspected drug dealer near Disneyland reflects reality. The report goes like this: At 3:15 p.m., an undercover narcotics unit led by Investigator Christopher M. Catalano decided to end surveillance on 58-year-old Danny Stephen Simmons. A husky, 22-year veteran, Catalano ordered a patrol unit driven by Deputy Gino Rodriguez to stop a 2007 Dodge truck driven by Simmons on Harbor Boulevard.
To officers’ frustration, a passenger holding a McDonald’s bag leaped from the still-moving Dodge, dumped the bag (which contained 3 ounces of methamphetamine and a glass pipe), climbed a fence and, despite Catalano’s chase, escaped. Meanwhile, Rodriguez halted Simmons at gunpoint and found half a gram of methamphetamine hidden underneath the driver’s-seat cover, plus 17 Vicodin pills in the vehicle’s center console. Deputies raided Simmons’ home; there, they say, they found 171 grams of marijuana and the tools of a drug dealer: small plastic bags, digital scales, a box of syringes, $3,300 in cash and a loaded handgun. Catalano reported that Simmons voluntarily confessed to selling drugs. Based on the investigator’s work, prosecutors filed seven felonies and two misdemeanors. The district attorney’s office thought the crimes merited an eight-year trip to a California penitentiary.
But Simmons didn’t spend one hour in prison. Indeed, his case never went to trial—because the sheriff’s report was not entirely truthful and the preliminary hearing testimony of deputies wasn’t especially credible. As a result, the DA’s office dismissed five of the most serious charges. Last year, Simmons pleaded guilty to two remaining counts: illegal possession of a handgun by a felon and possession of an amount of concentrated cannabis. His punishment? Ninety days of home confinement, a generous resolution for a man the OCSD had pegged as a drug dealer working on the outskirts of the Happiest Place on Earth.<<
http://www.ocweekly.com/content/printVersion/609508/