Attorney says video disputes police account of shooting
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/crime/bs-md-ci-mouzon-police-shooting-lawsuit-20160114-story.html
The lawyer for a man shot by Baltimore police three years ago is claiming a new video shows that officers lied about the circumstances that led up to the shooting.
When police officers shot Shaun Mouzon in January 2013, an officer wrote in charging documents that they did so because Mouzon had driven his car at them. But attorney A. Dwight Pettit said surveillance camera video he obtained from the city under a public records request tells a different story.
"The car was stopped in traffic," Pettit said. "The allegation that their lives were in danger by the movement of the car is absolutely ridiculous and is an absolute misstatement of the facts."
The video, also obtained by The Baltimore Sun through a records request, shows Mouzon's vehicle pulling into traffic at a stoplight on Edmondson Avenue, with several officers following in an unmarked patrol car, their lights activated.
Officers run up to the driver's and passenger sides. It is unclear when the officers begin firing, but none appear to be standing directly in front of the car as it slowly pulls off and then flees the area.
Pettit said he believes the video shows officers firing even before the vehicle starts to move.
Mouzon eventually crashed his vehicle several blocks away. Police found no weapon, but nevertheless Mouzon was charged with two handgun-related counts. All charges were eventually dropped.