Video of five Birmingham, Al., police officers beating an unconscious suspect was edited before it was turned over as evidence to the district attorney's office to use in the suspect's prosecution, reports the Birmingham News. The beating likely would have gone undiscovered if a prosecutor had not experienced technical problems with the copy and asked for another. The five officers were fired Tuesday by Police Chief A.C. Roper.
The Alabama Bureau of Investigation is investigating the beating, who altered the tape, in what agency that alteration occurred, and whether it was intentional. The FBI has aunched a civil rights investigation of the incident. The tape of the beating of Anthony Shannon Warren, which Birmingham police released yesterday, is drawing national attention and has spawned additional internal and criminal investigations. The incident happened Jan. 23, 2008.
