Police Beating Intentionally Left Out Of Video Handed To D.A.

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Police Beating Intentionally Left Out Of Video Handed To D.A.

Hoover's police chief says his department left out the clip of five Birmingham police beating an unconscious man because the district attorney's office didn't need it for their investigation of the police chase.

By: Jamie Burch | WKRG-TV
Published: May 22, 2009

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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) - Hoover police chief Nick Derzis says his
department's edit of a police chase video left out the beating of
an apparently unconscious suspect because that part wasn't needed
in their investigation.
Derzis said his department turned the edited version of the tape
over to the Jefferson County district attorney's office, which
discovered the beating when it got the original a year later.
Derzis said the edited version left out footage of the beating
by five Birmingham officers because a Hoover investigator only
copied a portion that showed a Hoover officer nearly being hit by
the suspect's van.
Derzis said such editing is standard in investigations and the
original video was returned to Birmingham police.
The five officers were fired Tuesday and the Alabama Bureau of
Investigation is probing the beating and circumstances surrounding
the edited video.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)