Pa. Federal Judge Says Body Camera Footage Supports Summary Judgment Ruling

PITTSBURGH — A Pennsylvania federal magistrate judge has awarded a police officer summary judgment in a lawsuit accusing him of violating the rights of a drug overdose victim by giving him Narcan, ruling that bodycam footage admitted as evidence showed that the defendant never administered the drug.

In a Sept. 6 order, Magistrate Judge Keith A. Pesto of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania explained that under Federal Rule of Evidence 904(b)(4), the “appearance, contents, substance, internal patterns, [and] other distinctive characteristics of the item” authenticate the video sufficiently to show that it is the recording …