Surprise video puts an end to drug trial

The questioning climaxed when Alarcon's attorney finally asked Amio: "Are you aware of a video and audio recording that completely contradicts what you have testified to today?"

"No, sir," Amio replied.

The defense attorney had planned to question the officers about the tape Monday, but prosecutors moved to dismiss the case before the trial resumed.

The video starts shortly after Alarcon was detained in the carport. Officers had seen Alarcon close the door to a nearby laundry room. On the video, the officers spent roughly 15 minutes looking for someone to unlock the room's door.

The video does not show who found the drugs. But after nearly 25 minutes, it shows a group of officers huddled together talking about opening a container. They opened the container and appeared to find drugs.

Acevedo alleged that the drugs found by the officers were not his client's and might have been planted by police. The tape, however, does not show drugs being planted.

The attorney accused the officers of targeting his client after they arrested him several weeks earlier on suspicion of assault, but discovered he had been released without charge.

Alarcon said he was relieved his case had been dropped, saying that he had lived for a year with the threat of going to prison. Before the trial, he said, prosecutors had offered him two years in prison if he pleaded guilty.

"If I didn't have the videotape, nobody would believe me," said Alarcon, who said he was not a gang member.

Civil rights attorney Connie Rice, who has studied the LAPD and pushed for reforms, said the department has tried in recent years to root out dishonest officers, particularly since Chief William J. Bratton took over in 2002. But she said, there are some who take shortcuts and lie.

"In their minds, they're compensating for a system that's rigged to keep them from making the arrests and getting the convictions they want," she said.

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jack.leonard@latimes.com