A Black Texas man who aspired to become a police officer spent 16 months fighting felony accusations that he assaulted two officers during a “welfare check” at his home. A jury acquitted him after his son recorded video of the arrest.
The video caught Huntsville police and prosecutors by surprise, Stewart said, because they had expected to secure a conviction based on the officers’ accounts.
The cops accused Stewart of spitting in one of their faces and shoving the other officer, but none of that is captured on video.
“I don’t like to call people liars,” Stewart told ABC 13 Houston after his acquittal.
“But fabrication, yes. Cover up, yes.”
Unless you’re trying to get out of it, don’t admit that next time. Don’t even consider it a lie. There’s probably some situation, like if it’s backed up with video, where you’d consider trusting it some. But you admitting that ensures everyone there does take their word as the truth. It makes the issue more pervasive. There’s a chance that you staying quite could have changed the outcome, and you could have talked to the other jurors about how often cops lie.