To bad that because of this Officers actions they are only able to send him up for 7 years.
Now, I can agree that a "good" search would have avoided this situation from coming up in court... but the officer still would have been lying on the stand....
Sucks to be the officer, losing it all after 19 years, but he did it to himself (I actually feel for his family, for him not so much), and his actions will let a dangerous criminal out on the street much sooner than necessary...
Also, the fact that this guy is 19 years in, you would think he would have known better, unless of course his actions on the stand were just S.O.P. .... (but this was his first time committing perjury, right?)
Most likely this could also very well call into question, many other arrests and cases that this guy, has testified in. That could also get convictions overturned or at the least cost the Courts and Taxpayers lots of time and money...
Bottom, line... if he had followed the law and let the kid have a lawyer this would have never happened, if he had told the truth on the stand it never would have happened ...
The really sad thing is that since the suspect was not under arrest, the cop could have, and should have, simply recorded the conversation. He would have had the suspect’s statement that it was self defense, but he would also have had the information that the suspect had a gun. At that point, he still could have made his arrest, and the tape would have been admissible. It is then up to the D.A. to decide to file on the charge, reduce it, or dismiss it. And the cop could have been working some other case instead of facing perjury charges.