Police in FL charge a 22 yr. old with A/B on a police officer, then drop charges when they discover a videotape exonerating the defendant.

After a beat down in an elevator, Joshua Daniel Ortiz ended up with his nose broken and facing a charge of battering a police officer. The 22-year-old Sunrise man was surprised and delighted to learn Wednesday that Broward prosecutors were dropping the case against him after reviewing an elevator surveillance video showing three officers aggressively rush and beat Ortiz to the ground.
Police first charged Ortiz with felony battery on a law enforcement officer. But after seeing the video obtained by Ortiz's defense attorney, Stephen Melnick, prosecutors downgraded the charge to a misdemeanor resisting charge. Upon further review, prosecutors dropped the case entirely."We thought based on the facts and the evidence, including the videotape, that there was no reasonable likelihood of conviction at trial," said Lee Cohen, assistant state attorney in charge of misdemeanor cases.




Link: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/breakingnews/sfl-bn-0304video,0,1616907.story