BUFFALO (WBEN) - Local activists called a press conference Wednesday afternoon to demand that Erie County District Attorney John Flynn charge Buffalo Police Officers Andrew Moffett and John Davidson with perjury and tampering with evidence, stemming from an arrest they conducted back in March.
"We're here because once again there are bad officers causing division in the City of Buffalo," said Dominique Calhoun of the Coalition of Concerned Citizens. "The bad officers that are not being held accountable are making the good officers look bad and terrorizing the residents of the City of Buffalo."
The case in question is that of Morgan Eaton, the fiancee of Calhoun, who was charged with possession of cocaine during a traffic stop, even though a field test the officers conducted prior to the arrest indicated that the substance they found in Eaton's car was not cocaine. Upon further testing, the substance was determined to be Calhoun's vaginal suppositories that were needed for a medical condition, though she wasn't in the car at the time of the arrest.
The activists contend that body camera footage obtained in the months following the arrest prove the officers committed perjury, and that they tampered with evidence, as Calhoun suggested the officers put the suppositories in their pockets as opposed to putting the vial into evidence.
Almost immediately following the conclusion of the activists' press conference, Flynn held his own to respond to the demands, and the district attorney announced that he will not be filing charges against Davidson or Moffett, and Flynn also stated there is no proof of tampering with evidence.
"Should they have charged the cocaine? Probably not - they probably should have waited and gotten it tested," said Flynn. "But that is an issue for Mr. Davidson's supervisors at BPD to address."
Flynn said his role in this case was to determine if Davidson attempted to intentionally defraud anyone or intentionally file a false instrument that rises to the level of criminal conduct.
"The answer to that is clearly 'no,'" Flynn continued.
The Buffalo Police Department has suspended Davidson and Moffett for 30 days without pay as an investigation into their conduct continues.
The activists also stated that Flynn's office continued to pressure Eaton into taking a plea deal, though Flynn said that claim is not true.
"My office, on its own, sent a letter to the court on July 7 asking the court to dismiss the charges - there was no one pressuring my office to do that," said Flynn. "My lawyers did the right thing here, and they dismissed everything by the way - they dismissed the viable marijuana charge; they dismissed the viable misdemeanor without a license charge - they dismissed that as a matter of fairness."
However, the damage to Eaton goes beyond the court system, as he was an esteemed member of the community prior to the arrest on March 8.
"I've lost a job, my children are asking me questions," began Eaton. "I've been upstanding in the community for over 20 years - I've been coaching little league football since 2002 - and now I've got to answer questions from my son like, 'Are you a drug dealer?
"I've got a 7 and 5 year old at home wondering where their dad was when I was locked up for three days here at the holding center, so there's an effect on my life," he continued. "It's just been a lot."