News Archive
Appellate Decision Based on Police Body Camera Evidence to Become More Common, Says Professor Schumm, '98
09/26/2016
Footage from police body cameras can back up the version of events from the officer’s point of view, and the footage can contradict police claims. A South Bend man has seen his conviction reversed based on Indiana Court of Appeals judges viewing the body camera footage of his arrest. While it’s rare, the practice will become more common as such footage becomes more available, said Professor Joel Schumm, ‘98 in a story about the decision that was published in the "South Bend Tribune" on September 25.
“The way appellate judges consider video evidence is a developing issue,” Professor Schumm said in the story. “As the Love opinion shows, not all judges agree with what approach to take.”
South Bend police claimed the man, Royce Love, forced them to fire their stun guns and unleash a police dog when the man failed to comply with their commands after a car chase in August 2013. But footage from police body cameras show the man was on the ground and complying with officer instructions before they began using the stun guns and released the police dog. The man was convicted at the trial court level of resisting law enforcement and mistreating a police dog. The Indiana Court of Appeals reversed those convictions after viewing the police body camera footage of the incident.
Professor Schumm is a magna cum laude graduate of the law school, and director of the IU McKinney Appellate Clinic. In addition, he is director of the Judicial Externship Program, and director of Experiential Learning at the law school.
