South Carolina Criminal Defense Blog

The NYC police officer who assaulted a bicyclist on Monday is just one more example of a lying cop busted by a videocamera. People in general want to believe that the police are honest and tell the truth. We don't want to believe that cops will lie, to help themselves or to obtain a conviction, but the truth is that cops are human like everyone else, they are not always rigorously honest, they often abuse the power that is given to them with their badge, and many cops will lie under oath and on the stand.

Officer Patrick Bogan swore in an affidavit that Christopher Long was disorderly, and that Long attacked him by running into him with his bicycle. A prosecutor filed charges against Long based on the officer's testimony. No other officers who were present and watched Officer Bogan commit a crime did anything to stop him, nor did they speak up to stop Long's prosecution. If it were not for the video taken by an observer, Long would be prosecuted for assaulting an officer - the judge would believe the officer and the jury would most likely believe the officer.

Thanks to the Smoking Gun and Simple Justice, here is the criminal complaint charging the bicyclist with assaulting an officer: