BY JOEL MATHIS
We already knew Jeffrey Walker
was a bad Philadelphia cop: He pleaded to robbery and weapons charges earlier
this year, and his cooperation was considered key to the mass indictment of his
fellow narcotics officers over the summer. But we’re still getting a sense of
the scale of the problem.
The Inquirer reports a judge on
Friday dismissed 59 narcotics convictions in which Walker was a key witness.
The convictions had been obtained between 2004 and 2013.
“Actually, this is the worst
police corruption since the 39th District,” said Bradley S. Bridge of the
Defender Association of Philadelphia, referring to the mass dismissals of about
300 cases in the late 1990s. Those cases involved six 39th District officers
who were convicted of planting drugs and framing suspects.
The current police scandal – in
which one former officer has pleaded guilty in federal court to corruption
charges and six others are awaiting trial – involves more case dismissals than
ever before in Philadelphia: 340 cases had been dismissed by the beginning of
the year, and counting Friday’s tally, 76 have been tossed this year.
More than 100 lawsuits have
already been filed by former convicts. City Hall — and taxpayers — are expected
to take a major financial hit from settling the cases.
And the worst may still be in
the future. A public defender said Friday she plans to file 1,000 more appeals
of cases involving Walker and the narcotics unit.
