Lying Oakland County Cop Results in 16 Cases Dismissed
Oakland County Sheriff, Marc Ferguson, has been fired after lying on the witness stand during a preliminary hearing in a drug case. Ferguson lied about opening a package containing marijuana at a Pontiac shipping company before obtaining a search warrant.
Anyone charged with a crime is innocent until proven guilty. The sheriff was using an unethical way to ensure this defendant would be convicted with possession of marijuana. Two witnesses testified that the former sheriff performed an illegally search by opening the package before obtaining a warrant. This illegal conduce lead to the judge dismissing the case after discovering the officer had lied. The officer claimed to know the contents and exact weight of the box searched before even opening or seeing it. Apparently he was the first person to possess x-ray vision.
An internal investigation was done through the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office who decided that no criminal charges would be filed against Ferguson. Similar incidents that have happened with other officers who have been charged have been acquitted and given their job back. The department wants to make sure that Ferguson will never receive his badge back by not giving him the chance to try and prove he did not lie on the stand. If Ferguson were to go to trial and the Sheriff’s department takes the chance that he will not be charged and he will have his badge back with back pay from lost salary.
Marc Ferguson worked at the Pontiac Police department prior to Oakland County taking over the cities duties. Because of this incident over one hundred cases were reviewed by the department in which Ferguson was a witness to during his time at Pontiac. The cases that Ferguson was the only witness in were dismissed which included sixteen criminal cases. They had to be dismissed as he is not a credible witness and the cases did not hold enough evidence without a witness.
The former Sheriff had been an officer for over twenty three years but will no longer be able to work in this field because of this incident. Not only did he affect this drug case and sixteen others, he can never be held to be credible for future cases if he were to continue on with the department. Officers of the sheriff’s department, the Judge, and attorneys have all worked together to deal with this ethical issue and make sure Ferguson will no longer have an effect on any other cases. Credible witnesses and proper procedures must be followed to make arrests and charge a person guilty with all crimes.
If you have been charged with a crime contact criminal defense lawyer, Aaron J. Boria. (734) 453-7806
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