NYC Cops Harass Club Owner Whose CCTV Footage Overturned
Drug Conviction

Posted by , bOING bOING at 9:10 AM on July 4, 2008.

Talk about shooting the messenger.

Posted by Cory Doctorow

Law enforcement LOVES surveillance cameras -- except when those cameras are
used to surveil dodgy busts and get them overturned:

Last year, New York
police officers were seen dancing in the streets just before arresting four men
in a city nightclub on charges of selling $100 worth of cocaine. It took six
months and the men's life savings, but their names were finally cleared when
prosecutors took the unusual step of announcing in court that the men had
committed no crime.

That's because club surveillance video shows that the undercover cops had no
contact with the accused men in the two hours they were in the club.

Now, club owner Eduardo Espinoza says the police are retaliating against
him.