Fletcher had been arrested three times in 2008, twice on drug-related charges and once for robbery and assault. One of the drug cases was dropped for lack of evidence, the other because officers did not show in court to testify against him, said a spokesman for the Prince George's County state's attorney's office
For those of you who aren't familiar with the way the courts and street-level LE works in MD, let me explain what this REALLY means...
"Lack of evidence" in PG County means they ran his plates during a traffic stop, and pulled him over for a "fishing expedition", and arrested him and impounded his vehicle because the LEOs figured that forensics would find SOMETHING in his car or personal effects. And even if they DON'T find anything, he's going to have to pay to get his car out of impound, which is going to be several hundred dollars. Win-win for PGCP. Cha-ching...
"Officers didn't show to testify" means that when they arrested him, they did something HORRIBLY wrong, like call him a racial name, or rough him up, or illegally search his person, property, or vehicle, or obtain their warrant using false information or some other such egregious procedural shenanigans, and when nothing came from the searches of his property and they had nothing real to show for their efforts, rather than have it go to trial, and have all the LE monkey business exposed to the light of day as a matter of record, they just don't show up to testify, so the State's Attorney can just ask the judge to dismiss the case, and they all save face. Potential fishing expedition=harassment that may or may not pay off for a given LEA. But when nothing comes of it, they generally don't want their shenanigans seeing the light of day as a matter of court record. So they ditch the case...
You have to remember that PG County Police (along with Howard County, Baltimore MPD, and MSP) are some of the MOST CITED LEAs in the nation by the US DOJ for civil rights violations, corruption, and procedural shenanigans. MD LEAs have, in total, shelled out tens of millions of dollars in civil rights violations lawsuits in the last decade. This isn't because a bunch of activists have been baiting them--it's because there is an systemic culture of disdain for the law, the rights of US citizens, and the public in general among MD's urban LEAs.
I'm not saying the accused is an angel, or an innocent victim of various LEAs. But the fact that he has a record makes him a prime target for "fishing expeditions" and other forms of institutionalized harassment. You just have to know how to read the news reports to really understand what's REALLY going on with this guy's record...
When a cop doesn't show up to testify in a drug case, it's generally NOT because he had to take his kid to a piano recital. It's usually because their case is too flimsy to win, or they did something VERY wrong in the prosecution of the warrant, arrest, or search...
That's how they roll in PG county folks...
It's pretty well known to the locals up there that most of the MD LE community uses the "Chicago playbook". Just another reason to stay on the "free side the moat" if you can...
