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Angel Contreras

Summary of Camden Misconduct
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On June 30, 2006, police officers in Camden, New Jersey, arrested 18-year-old Angel Contreras and charged him with possession of heroin. The charge included an enhancement because Contreras was arrested near a school zone.

Contreras pled guilty to the charge in Camden County Superior Court on August 16, 2006 and received a sentence of five years on probation.

On March 19, 2010, the U.S. Department of Justice began bringing indictments against five Camden police officers, charging them with a wide range of crimes and civil-rights violations, including planting evidence, falsification of reports, perjury, and theft.

The indictments followed an investigation by the FBI into the department after the Camden County Office of the Public Defender asked the internal affairs unit of the Camden Police Department to be more vigorous in its examination of complaints about officer misconduct.

Three of the officers—Kevin Parry, Jason Stetser, and their supervisor, Dan Morris—pled guilty. The other two—Antonio Figueroa and Robert Bayard—went to trial. Figueroa was convicted; Bayard was acquitted. Parry was one of the officers involved in Jackson’s arrest.

Even before the officers were indicted, the Camden County Prosecutor had begun filing motions to vacate convictions and dismiss charges against defendants whose convictions were tainted by the apparent misconduct.

Contreras’s conviction was vacated and his charge dismissed on January 26, 2010.

Following the indictments against Parry and the other officers, defendants began filing lawsuits against the city and the officers for violations of their civil rights. The lead lawsuit was filed on July 29, 2010 by the New Jersey chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of Joel Barnes. It was eventually joined with lawsuits filed in state and federal court by Contreras and 86 other persons, including several who were never convicted and had their charges dismissed after the misconduct by the officers was brought to light.

In his lawsuit, filed on October 14, 2011, Contreras said the officers planted drugs on him and that he was not committing any crime at the time of his arrest.

The lawsuits were settled on January 10, 2013, with Jackson and the other defendants sharing $3.5 million.

– Ken Otterbourg

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Posting Date: 1/16/2025
Last Updated: 1/16/2025
State:New Jersey
County:Camden
Most Serious Crime:Drug Possession or Sale
Additional Convictions:
Reported Crime Date:2006
Convicted:2006
Exonerated:2010
Sentence:Probation
Race/Ethnicity:Hispanic
Sex:Male
Age at the date of reported crime:18
Contributing Factors:Perjury or False Accusation, Official Misconduct
Did DNA evidence contribute to the exoneration?:No