The Case of Mark Walton and Miami PD

Last week Mark Walton found out that the Driving under the Influence charge against him was being dropped. Walton is a 19-year-old football player at the University of Miami. A conviction could have been costly to the young man who was suspended from the team for a short time while the matter was being investigated.

Now you might be saying hey the charges were dropped what’s the big deal? The deal is that how all of this came about. The police are believed to have used some unusual tactics to say the least to arrive at the young man’s arrest in April of this year.

The arrest happened at the home of a young woman who had filed a complaint with the Miami Police Department. In her complaint it stated that Walton impersonated a police officer when stopping her on the road. When the woman was allegedly stopped she was told by the man who was supposed to be a cop that he would let her go if she gave him her phone number. The number she provided the police was Walton’s. According to Mark’s lawyer, Joey McCall the resulting arrest was a part of a set up by the police department who had the woman text Walton to get him to come to her residence.

Now also take not that Walton is never charged with the impersonating a police officer charge. That is because they didn’t have anything that they could link him up on that charge. Well you wonder how did Walton get in contact with the alleged victim? Well his side of the story is that he was almost hit by a woman swerving in the road. He flagged her down and assisted her with getting home because she may have been intoxicated. They then exchanged numbers. So who is telling the truth?

Text messages between the two parties seem to support Walton’s claim.

We also have a lengthier string of text messages that were leaked by these police to the media that hurts even their own story.(Text Messages )

Mark arrives at the young lady’s home where once pulls up and gets out she walks a back in the house while police dressed in all black come out and with his gun out of the holster and runs up on Walton. As the cops have the man hemmed up that’s when the new cameras pop out. Now was this part of some elaborate set-up by the police? Well why else would a bunch of cops be there Johnny on the spot waiting and somebody called the news to be there at 3am. So what would they have to gain?

With not much to go on the police give the young man a breathalyzer and he blows a 0.59 which is below the legal limit of 0.8 but above the limit for someone under 21. Which Walton falls under that category. This is all they had to go on after a warrantless search turned up nothing after their unauthorized sting operation.

When we think of “Black Live Matter” it is mostly under the scope of police violence. What about when the police are just willing to ruin a black life for whatever reason. This young man was suspended from the football team and if charges were not dropped could have been put off the team and effectively out of school. He was fortunate to have diligent legal representation but how many men are sitting behind bars now because the cops just needed to find something.

Keith B. Holt

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