Deputy accused of conspiring to frame someone could face legal issues

On Friday, a Lee County deputy was arrested and is accused of conspiring with two other men to plant drugs and frame someone. Next, that deputy could be hit with other legal issues.

Defense attorneys may start questioning other arrests this deputy has made. WINK News Safety and Security Specialist Rich Kolko says that this has happened in other places.

Baltimore, Philadelphia and Virginia have all been multiple convictions, some in the hundreds after police misconduct is uncovered. Kolko says if it’s proven that a law enforcement officer plants evidence one time, every case becomes suspicious.

Niko Irizarry’s legal battle could begin soon after the former Lee County deputy was arrested. Investigations into cases he was involved in may be called into question.

“Every arrest his deputy was involved with defense attorneys going to go back and take a look at and they are going to file motions in court to have any convictions reviewed and possibly file appeals in these cases,” Kolko said.

According to LCSO, Irizarry worked with two other people to plant narcotics on a victim during a traffic stop. Kolko says the behavior he is accused of creates doubt about this deputy.

“The best predictor of future behavior is past behavior. So if they can prove that this deputy did indeed plant evidence in this case,” said Kolko. “There’s a possibility or at least it’s worth revealing. Did he plant evidence in previous cases?”

Kolko believes this process includes attorneys going back to every case he’s worked or been involved in to see if a conviction can be reviewed.

“We’ll start with the chain of custody, you know, where was that evidence found? How did it get there? And then then, the defense attorneys are gonna jump right in file appeals.” Kolko said. “And the State’s Attorneys are going to have to decide. You know what to do. And inevitably, some of the previous cases that this deputy worked may be overturned.”

David Thomas is a former police officer and professor of forensic science at FGCU. He describes this kind of behavior as despicable. “When an officer or deputy does something like this, there’s very little regard for all the other officers that have that have to follow in your footsteps that have to go to work on a daily basis. And it really destroys the public trust,” Thomas said.

Kolko says we can expect to hear defense attorneys talking about this within the new few days. However, for any action to take place in court will come in time.