Has this ever actually happened? Has there ever been a person busted for a crime who said “I was framed” and ended up actually being framed and got off because of it? By cops or law enforcement specifically. Not framed by their wife or buddy or something.
Depends on what you mean by framed.
Remember the kid in HBO’s Murder on a Sunday Morning? The police certainly used unethical interrogation techniques and stretched the evidence pretty thin. That sort of thing happends all the time. But I think it’s closer to “railroading” than “framing.”
Well, there’s the case of Bernard Griffin, a Catholic who was attacked by police in Belfast a few years ago. They beat the living daylights out of him and when he complained, they filed a report claiming he had attacked them first. As he continued to pursue his case they went as far as planting explosives in his house, then raiding it and arresting him for possession.
They didn’t get away with it, thanks to one of the policemen in their unit having a conscience. Griffin not only “got off” but got a nice fat settlement cheque from them as well.
This is just something to get you started; read about the LAPD’s Rampart Division.
There was a case in Queens NY…back in the 1970s some guy was arrested charged and convicted of assault (I think?) and recently (in the last two years) one of the police officers recanted and said they just didn’t like the guy having long hair and invented it all.
Sorry for lack of link and scarcity of detail. The latter explains my inability to provide the former.
Pish posh, this is John Ashcroft’s America. You ought to know better than to even ask an O.P. like that.
I grew up in Frank Rizzo’s Philadelphia. I know better than to ever even WHISPER a question such as that…yipes.
God knows who’s watching.
Cartooniverse
I have personally been setup(framed) by law enforcement and have been physically assaulted when I wouldn’t respond to questioning. Charges were dropped and apologies made, no civil suit was filed. It was basically this…a warrant was issued on a person with a very similar name as myself. An officer, who shall remain nameless, took whiteout ink and altered the copy of the warrant, then served it on me. It was easy to locate the original, one phone call the the judge that issued the warrant. Boom! all over, but before I had the chance for any of that.
Here’s the rest of the story…
I assume he thought I would crumble and give testimony on some people that I knew. He of course lost his job as did the County Sheriff and another officer on the scene retired immediately. It was pretty ugly around here for awhile. I had black and blue marks from head to knees from being beaten with a nightstick. I was handcuffed and restrained by another officer at the time. He actually put dents in the roof of his car trying to hit me in the head. Needless to say, he was out of control.
I probably should have gotten rich after that but woe the ignorance of youth.
Like I said before, everyone lost their jobs and a large lawsuit would have bankrupted this small town. Plus, I wouldn’t have wanted to get all that crap public, family, friends, etc.
Anyway, when in Tejas, be careful out there. :smack: