PHILADELPHIA – A Pennsylvania judge has ruled that police illegally stopped a 22-year-old unarmed black man in Philadelphia before a dozen mostly white officers surrounded him and beat him in an encounter captured on video .
Newsworks.org reports (http://bit.ly/2lVBT4W ) Common Pleas Judge Kai Scott on Wednesday ruled that drugs police seized from Tyree Carroll cannot be admitted as evidence because the arresting officer wasn't legally permitted to stop and search Carroll.
A narcotics officer testified he approached Carroll on April 3, 2015, suspecting he'd recently sold drugs. The undercover officer grabbed Carroll by the arm, leading to a confrontation in which officers kicked, punched and cursed at him.
A spokesman for the Philadelphia district attorney says prosecutors haven't decided whether to appeal.
Carroll's lawyer says without the evidence, the DA's office will be forced to dismiss the case.
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Information from: WHYY-FM, http://www.whyy.org
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