Eating the Evidence is Almost Never Good for a Criminal Suspect

The Pedophile Judge Who (Probably) Ate an SD Card

Judge Jonathan Gray of Maryland was accused of recording students bathing in his hunting cabin. A young student saw the camera while bathing, so he took pictures with his cell phone and, with the help of his parents, reported it to the FBI. The judge, who was also a former prosecutor, completely denied the allegations. Police officers visited him at the cabin where, during the interview, he excused himself to make phone calls and charge his phone, but he was caught eating something from underneath his bed. Investigators heard two “crunch” sounds from Newell’s mouth and saw him drink from a cup. In the hospital, the investigators found a foreign metallic object (possibly an SD card). When FBI agents went back to arrest him, they found him with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Armed with search warrants, investigators also found several digital devices, including an external hard drive that “revealed numerous videos of minor males showering.”

Chomping on Blood Alcohol Results

Kenneth Desomers was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving by New York police. He was taken to the police station, where he allegedly tried to eat his Breathalyzer results as they were printing. The breathalyzer test result showed he had a .13 blood alcohol content (BAC). Not surprisingly, he was charged with 3^rd degree criminal tampering, and the obstruction charge he faced was a Class A misdemeanor, which could mean up to a year in jail.

Eating A Whole Pot Plant

Image Source: cbc.ca

At Jeremiah Carmody’s home in Pennsylvania, police arrived with a warrant, but Carmody started to eat his pot plant. But he wasn’t able to finish that meal or the other 4 pounds of marijuana he had in his house.

Eating Information Instead of Turning it Over to the Court

Richard Masten, director of the Miami crime stoppers hotline, was sentenced to 14 days in jail after defying a court’s order to turn over evidence – a sheet of paper that Masten believed could reveal identity of a tipster who called the hotline. He had been ordered to hand the paper over to the Court after a defendant charged with cocaine possession asked to see the information it contained. Instead, Masten ripped the paper up and ate the pieces. His protest was, unfortunately, unnecessary, as the judge ordered him to share the information that was on the paper. He was also sentenced to 14 days in jail and charged with $500 for criminal contempt of court.

What do you think? If you were backed into a corner would you try to eat the evidence?