A former Cleveland Police officer dismissed last week for mishandling evidence has appealed the firing, claiming he was dismissed unfairly.
“My record speaks for itself,” Officer Roger Smith’s appeal states.
Mr. Smith was fired after authorities claimed he failed to turn in a bag of marijuana that was found on the body of a crash accident victim.
When Mr. Smith’s superiors asked him for the evidence, he initially claimed he had thrown it out of his car window. He then changed his story, saying that he threw it in a trash can at the police station.
Mr. Smith’s appeal says he was not at the scene of the crash, and was handed the bag of marijuana by an EMS technician at SkyRidge hospital while responding to a call unrelated to the collision.