A drug case was dismissed on Wednesday after a judge cited officer misconduct. The case involved a search and seizure of marijuana from a Richmond District residence, which resulted in drug possession charges.
This latest dismissal is on the heels of nearly 70 cases that were dismissed recently due to alleged misconduct by a plainclothes investigation unit at the Southern Station.
The case here in the Richmond District began on the afternoon of March 1, 2011 when police received a report of a pot smell inside a residential apartment building at Geary and 33rd Avenue.
Three officers responded to the call – Officer Michael Chang, Sergeant Gary Watts, and Officer Martinez. They gained access to the building by walking in behind a resident as she drove into the garage, shown in the video below.
Once inside, the officers asked the woman if they could search the building and according to their report, she gave them permission.
According to video surveillance from inside the building, officers then walked door to door inside the building, sniffing for pot.
During their search in the hallway, police ran into resident Wenzell McLaren, and claimed that they smelled burnt marijuana on him. Police then spoke with him in the hallway for nine minutes, asking for permission to search his room. McLaren refused.
McLaren did tell police that he had a medical marijuana card and went into his room to get his doctor’s note for medical marijuana, and a jar filled with pot.
As he re-entered his room, officers followed him into the apartment where two witnesses say Sergeant Watts drew his gun as they searched the room. Officers found marijuana and proceeded to arrest McClaren for drug possession. It’s unclear to me how much marijuana was found – SFWeekly says it was 410 grams – or ~ .8 of a pound – the Examiner says it was 4 pounds.
Public Defender Jeff Adachi held a press conference Wednesday to announce that the case has been dropped after surveillance video was reviewed, resulting in the judge citing officer misconduct. McLaren’s lawyer also alleged that the officers did not immediately identify themselves as police. Reference was made to the video below, where there is no sign of the officers wearing their police shields.
The Examiner reports that prosecutors are considering an appeal, and Police Chief Jeff Godown didn’t see any issue with the case after reviewing the video.
“I’m not going to overreact every time Jeff Adachi comes out with another video or press release,” Godown said.
UPDATE: Thursday, 3/31/11, 10am: At a press conference, SFPD Chief Jeff Godown says it will be ‘business as usual’ at the Richmond District station after latest dropped case. [SF Examiner]
Sarah B.
410 grams is less than one pound.
@Gabriel – My math skills are busted! 🙂 I’m not sure which is correct – SFWeekly said 410 grams was found (http://blogs.sfweekly.com/thesnitch/2011/03/cops_lies_and_videotape_wenzell_mclaren.php), the Examiner story says 4 pounds (http://www.sfexaminer.com/local/2011/03/drug-case-dropped-after-video-san-francisco-police-surfaces). Definitely a HUGE difference in those two amounts but yes, you are absolutely correct that 410 grams is about .8 of a pound.
Sarah B.
Cops is the last thing that comes to my mind when I see a trio of strangers entering a complex or an apartment. They need to identify themselves, show badges, not barge in sans warrant, or draw weapons. All the protocols in this scenario were wrong. With 70 cases of misconduct, how many more will it take to stop this ragtag approach? Furthermore, with so many criminals posing as cops or utility workers, it is totally unsafe to allow strangers onto the property. Residents need to see and examine badges, maybe call 911 if there’s any suspicion.
This video shows the officers walking in the garage following a car. Clearly none has a badge on display. They claim permission to search by a woman. Was the woman the owner or manager of the building? Seems like that is an unanswered question. This man gets his apartment searched because he smells like marijuana. If the SFPD searched everyone in the City that smells like marijuana they sure would not get much else done. This was clearly illegal search and seizure.
The video shows how vulnerable people are in the Richmond District. Many people gain entry or do “spotting” through garages that remain open while the resident parks their vehicle. This is a bad practice. You should make sure the garage door closes and locks before driving further into the garage or car port. If I were a criminal, I could easily walk into any garage in the neighborhood using this technique. I practice spotting too and fantasize about all those nice bicycles, cars and other items I could have for free. Fortunately I’m a law-abiding citizen and a neighborhood watcher.
I back in my vehicle, and as soon as the car clears the entry I close the garage door. None of my neighbors do this, so imagine how easy a perp can sneak in behind the driver’s back. Once in, the culprit can steal anything, gain access to the apartments, or assault/terminate somebody.
If I had seen these three “officers” walk in like that, I would have executed my 2nd amendment rights. So you have to wonder why cops don’t walk into residences in the Bayview. Richmond District people need to be vigilant.
“You should make sure the garage door closes and locks before driving further into the garage or car port.”
Unfortunately this can flood a garage (which often ventilate into the rest of the building) with carbon monoxide which is also no fun.
It will not “flood” a garage with Carbon Monoxide, nor the “rest of the building.”