Judge throws out man's conviction after bodycam footage shows NYPD officer planting marijuana

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A judge has thrown out a Staten Island man's 2018 conviction after his lawyers argued that body camera video appears to show an NYPD officer planting marijuana in a vehicle where the defendant was a passenger.

Staten Island Criminal Court Judge Tamiko Amaker on Friday vacated Jason Serrano's guilty plea, citing the potentially incriminating video and the arresting officers' disciplinary records.

Serrano was riding in a friend's SUV in March 2018 when the vehicle was pulled over by officers Kyle Erickson and Elmer Pastran.

During the traffic stop, the officers claimed to have found marijuana inside the vehicle. Serrano, who at the time was recovering from a stab wound, was charged with drug possession, resisting arrest, and obstructing governmental administration.

Serrano ultimately pleaded guilty to the resisting arrest charge to avoid jail time. He did not learn about the body camera video until months later, when prosecutors finally shared it with his Legal Aid Society lawyers.

Judge Amaker wrote in her decision that under normal circumstances, she would have been unable to toss Serrano's conviction, reported Gothamist.

'However, this court finds that the body-worn camera footage, taken with the officers’ disciplinary files, demonstrate that the defendant may have been searched and seized in violation of his constitutional rights,' Amaker wrote.

Serrano's legal team welcomed the judge's ruling.

'We’re thrilled that the court has finally recognized that Jason Serrano’s rights were violated when he was arrested, when evidence was planted on him, and then when he was prosecuted without disclosure of any of that information,' said attorney Marion Elizabeth Campbell.

Campbell also called on the Staten Island District Attorney's Office to formally drop all charges against her client, arguing that 'it's the least they could do.'