Jurors Deadlock in Harlem Police Officer’s Trial
By THE NEW YORK TIMES
A New York police officer who was charged with participating in a robbery crew that targeted drug dealers was convicted on Tuesday of two counts of obstruction of justice, but a mistrial was declared on the more serious robbery charges after the jury was unable to resolve its deadlock.
Prosecutors argued during the four-week trial that the officer, Jose Tejada, 45, had joined a violent crew who posed as police officers, staged arrests of drug dealers and seized drugs and money from them. Prosecutors said that Officer Tejada had also consulted law enforcement databases to check whether there were arrest warrants out for other members of the crew.
On the obstruction charges, prosecutors could show that Officer Tejada had entered certain names into the database. To prove the robberies, they relied on seven cooperating witnesses. Jurors wrestled with that evidence but could not reach a consensus. One juror said afterward that the jurors were evenly split on the robbery counts. He said he did not believe the cooperating witnesses because they were motivated to get out of jail.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/27/nyregion/jurors-deadlock-in-harlem-police-officers-trial.html?partner=socialflow&smid=tw-nytmetro
