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.
He said he tossed the bag into his car and responded to calls the rest of the night, and returned to the station around 6 a.m., which is when, he said, "I failed to do my job properly and left the bag inside my car."
Mr. Smith said that when asked where the evidence was, he was confused and couldn't remember if he had thrown it away.
"I made a mistake, I didn't break the law," Mr. Smith's appeal says.
City Manager Janice Casteel, who will schedule a hearing on the appeal, said she had no comment this afternoon.
See Thursday's Times Free Press for complete coverage.