00:00No one went back to the Shell gas station to learn whether there was any camera footage that would have
00:04depicted the crash.
00:06I don't know if anyone went back or not.
00:08When this man was arrested for DUI after police assumed he was behind the wheel,
00:11the judge found the eyewitness description pointed to a completely different driver and exposed what officers failed to investigate.
00:17Motion to suppress has been filed as well as a motion to dismiss.
00:21When you arrived, what did you observe?
00:22I observed, I believe, a Dodge Ram.
00:25It looked like it was caught up in an electric pole.
00:28I remember when I was walking up, I believed what I saw were alcohol containers because I believed the doors
00:32were open.
00:33And I saw a black male on the passenger side was wearing white shorts and a dark shirt.
00:39Did that match the description of the Ready reporter gave?
00:41I believe the dark shirt and light colored pants would match, at least for my arrival.
00:46Those were my thoughts, yes.
00:47So you contacted Ryan Brown, the reporting party in this case?
00:50Yes.
00:51He did tell you he thought there may have been a passenger involved. Is that correct?
00:53I believe so, yes.
00:54Also became clear on scene from you and other officers that Mr. Bowers was the driver of the vehicle.
01:00That's what I believed when I was on scene.
01:01And so eventually he was arrested for driving under the influence.
01:04Yes.
01:04But when you went to the driver's side, you didn't find anybody in the driver's seat, right?
01:08No.
01:08You did find the person who you later identified as Mr. Bowers, right?
01:12Yes.
01:12But he was on the passenger side of the car, right?
01:15Yes.
01:15And did you see what the driver looked like?
01:16I know he was wearing light colored pants with darker shirt with light pants.
01:22Skinny guy, I want to say maybe Hispanic.
01:24Just a quick look ahead.
01:26But I do know for a fact that the driver was a skinnier guy wearing lighter colored denim
01:32jeans, like a black sweatshirt, long sleeve.
01:34And he was skinnier.
01:35You also had to describe his height, right?
01:37Correct.
01:38And he's below average in height.
01:39He's five feet, seven inches, right?
01:41Yes.
01:41As far as his weight goes, he's 240 pounds, right?
01:45Correct.
01:45Mr. Bowers said within your earshot that he was not the driver, right?
01:49Yes.
01:49When you found that out, did you or any other officer go to the Shell gas station?
01:54Not that I can recall.
01:55I know I didn't, but I don't know if anyone else did.
01:58Okay.
01:58No one went back to the Shell gas station to learn whether there was any camera footage
02:02that would have depicted the crash, right?
02:05I don't know if anyone went back or not.
02:06Would you agree with me that there are cameras at that gas station?
02:09I believe there's cameras inside.
02:10I don't know about outside.
02:11And between September 20th and the present, you, and to your knowledge,
02:15no other officer has gone back to the gas station, right?
02:17Correct.
02:18The police cannot ignore obvious evidence of a person's innocence.
02:22Mr. Bowers, without any knowledge whatsoever, said that he was not the driver.
02:27The reporting party described that person as Hispanic, not as African American.
02:31He described that person as thin, whereas the evidence that we have is that Mr. Bowers
02:36weighs 240 pounds.
02:38So the evidence seems consistent, that there is just this alt suspect that the police in
02:42no way attempted to locate, in no way attempted to pursue.
02:46And that is not enough for a prudent person to be convinced that Mr. Bowers was the person
02:51that was driving that car.
02:52Court finds that there was no probable cause that Mr. Bowers was the driver.
02:56Case is dismissed on the motion of the district attorney in order to...
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