CHARLOTTE — A judge is allowing the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department to release their video of a controversial arrest they made earlier this month.
Police said on Nov. 13, an officer stopped two people, Christina Pierre and her fiancé, Tony Lee, who appeared to be smoking marijuana near a bus stop in southwest Charlotte. The attorney for the couple said they were smoking a legal substance purchased at a nearby store. Either way, the Mecklenburg County district attorney typically does not prosecute marijuana arrests.
A viral video shows several CMPD officers holding Pierre down while one officer hits her 17 times in an attempt to arrest her.
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Police said Lee was charged with carrying a concealed weapon, resist/obstruct/delay and possession of marijuana. Pierre was charged with assault on a government official, resist/delay/obstruct and possession of marijuana.
On Tuesday, Channel 9 learned the charges against Pierre and Lee have been dismissed.
On Thursday, Judge Daniel Kuehnert ruled that all video of the incident, including body camera, dashboard camera, and traffic camera video should be released. The judge wants Charlotte City Council to see it first.
City council has until Dec. 11 to view the footage in closed session. The video is ordered to be released to the public the day after city council views it. A city spokesperson said that will happen on Dec. 11, which means the video will be released on Dec. 12.
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Both the couple’s lawyer and CMPD Chief Johnny Jennings have pushed for the release of the video, even after the charges against Pierre and Lee were dropped.
Police said Pierre punched an officer twice in the face before the eyewitness video was recorded.
Since then, there have been calls for all body camera and other city-owned video to be released to see what led up to the arrest. But under state law, a judge had to approve that happening.
Pierre’s attorney did not want any video from her being transported to jail or video from an interview room to be released. But the judge said it should be made public to give the full scope.
Pierre’s attorney said a civil suit will likely be filed after the body camera video is released.
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