Dallas Police Sergeant on Administrative Leave after Fabricated Testimony during DWI Trial

Stephen Baker, a 21-year veteran of the Dallas police department, is facing discipline after he stubbornly lied about why he pulled over a motorist. In 2012, Baker (according to Baker’s testimony) stopped a motorist for running a red light, and this stop led to an investigation and arrest for DWI. However, the basis for the stop was inconsistent with the video evidence from the officer’s own car. The officer’s dashboard camera showed the officer stopped at a light while the defendant driving along the cross street.

DWI Trial Gets Tossed because of Police Overreach

While stopped at an intersection, the officer testified that he observed the driver run a red light through the intersection at the cross street. The video clearly shows the officer stopped at a red light. The defense attorney argued successfully that the driver then MUST have crossed the intersection on a green light. This invalidated the entire basis for the stop and got the case thrown out. At trial, the officer made things much worse for himself by sticking to his bullshit story even when the video played for the judge and the jury and everyone else in the courtroom. It shows how police can abuse power if they are set on doing so.

Most police officers are interested in justice, and will not flatly lie during a judicial proceeding. This officer was not interested in justice or the rights afforded citizens under the Constitution. However, from this point on, any other DWI case in which Baker is the arresting officer will be in jeopardy. All a good defense attorney has to do is get the trial transcript from this fiasco and impeach him with it. A good defense attorney will show a jury convincingly that Baker is not a credible witness, and that Baker fabricates reasons to pull drivers over, and lies in the face of conflicting video evidence. This will ultimately lead to Baker likely being reassigned. This is costly and embarrassing for Dallas, because Baker has called himself the department’s “resident expert” in DWI cases.