“Authorities in Kern County, California are defending themselves against criticism for confiscating cell phone video of seven sheriff’s deputies’ fatal encounter with a 33-year-old man. But witnesses to the May 8 incident involving the deputies and 33-year-old David Silva said deputies overstepped their bounds in gathering that evidence. A witness told the Bakersfield Californian that two detectives entered her apartment to seize video taken by her boyfriend and blocked the entrance, then demanded her mother’s phone. Another witness gave the family surveillance footage taken near the site of the encounter that shows deputies hitting Silva with their nightsticks.”
