What did the officer write in the arrest affidavit and does it matter?
The arrest affidavit is the officer's written narrative justifying the arrest. It's typically written within hours, and it becomes the fixed version of events.
Why that's valuable. Everything after it gets measured against it. If the affidavit says you were unsteady and the video shows you walking normally, that's a contradiction. If it says the observation period was twenty minutes and the timestamps show eleven, that's a contradiction. If it omits that you mentioned your knee surgery and the body cam captures you saying it, that's a contradiction.
Officers testify months or years later from a document written quickly at the end of a shift. A substantial part of cross-examination is placing the affidavit, the video, and the testimony side by side and asking about the spaces between them.
Read yours carefully. You were there, and you know what didn't happen.
Mark every line you know is wrong, and bring that list to your first meeting. ---
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