Conviction tossed due to arrest video
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The Indiana Court of Appeals threw out a man’s cocaine conviction because his strip search was filmed by a camera crew for a television program. The court deemed it “unprofessional and unreasonable.”
During a 2003 sting operation at a motel, officers strip-searched Andra Thompson and found cocaine stuffed between his buttocks.
Thompson, 26, of Indianapolis, had been convicted of cocaine possession and sentenced to six years in prison in 2004.
His arrest was filmed for a show on cable TV’s Oxygen network called “Women and the Badge.”
At one point, the camera focused for several seconds on Thompson’s naked posterior while he was bent over in handcuffs.
“Where should the media line be drawn?” Judge Edward Najam wrote this week. “We will not sanction such conduct, which demeans the suspect and degrades the entire legal process.”
Oxygen network officials did not immediately return a message Friday seeking comment.
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