Evidence Tampering

Evidence Tampering Claimed In Police Brutality Case
Paul Tuthill (2012-02-27)
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Members of Community Coalition for Justice demonstrate outside district court in Springfield MA WAMC
SPRINGFIELD, MA (WAMC) - Community activists are accusing authorities in Springfield Massachusetts of attempting to cover up a case of police brutality with trumped up charges against the alleged victim.. A defense lawyer says police destroyed evidence of their misconduct that was contained in a cellphone video. WAMC's Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief Paul Tuthill reports.
About a dozen people demonstrated outside the courthouse in downtown Springfield Monday morning shortly before the start of a district court hearing on a motion to dismiss charges against a man who was arrested by Springfield police almost 14 months ago. Ellen Graves and other members of a group called the Community Coalition for Justice rallied to the defense of 24 year old Michael Ververis, who is facing charges stemming from a disturbance at closing time in the city's entertainment district.
Ververis, who is from Middletown Connecticut, was arrested on January 9th of last year. He's charged with disorderly conduct, assault and battery on a police officer, resisting arrest and attempted larceny of a firearm.
The police report said Ververis was leaning out the passenger window of an SUV trying to verbally incite a fist-fight among people gathered in the area after the nightclubs closed. The police said force was used to arrest Ververis after he tried to grab an officer's gun.
Anthony Pizzuto, an uncle of Ververis, says his nephew has never been in trouble with the law and what police allege is totally out of character.
In a motion to dismiss the charges, the attorney for Ververis, Luke Ryan alleges a very different set of circumstances from the police report. He claims witnesses saw six police officers pull Ververis from the SUV,and punch him in the face, head and chest. This allegedly happened after police became angry because the driver of the SUV had not complied with an order to move along. Videos recorded by bystanders purport to back up the witnesses claims.
The defense motion says the clearest exculpatory evidence was destroyed. Police confiscated the cell phone of a witness, and when it was returned months later, the recording of the disturbance had been erased.
There was a police internal affairs investigation, and based on a letter Ververis received last October from the police commissioner it appears some of the officers involved were disciplined. Springfield Police have declined to comment.
This new case is coming to pulbic attention, just as the police brutality trial of a former Springfield Police officer is winding down. Holly Richardson of the Community Coalition for Justice says its more evidence of the need for a civilian review board that can mete out punishment for police misconduct.
After video hit the internet of now retired Springfield police officer Jeffrey Asher repeatedly striking a man in the face with a flashlight during an arrest in 2009, Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno created a civilian board to hold hearings into police misconduct cases. But final disciplinary decisions still rest with the police commissioner.