No charges for SAPD officer who resigned amid allegations of lying about education, military service

Incident: Officer Matthew Martin was caught on video during an April 2015 traffic stop apparently plotting to falsify evidence. Martin found marijuana on a driver and passenger and muted his body mic to confer with his partner. He then persuaded a detained woman to pull out hidden drugs and concocted a plan to report that all the weed was found in one place, allowing the woman to go free​

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. Essentially, Martin tampered with evidence and orchestrated a false report. Internal Affairs investigators later discovered Martin had lied about this incident. In fact, they concluded Martin had violated the law, and they recommended firing him and even sought a criminal charge for tampering with evidence (a form of perjury)​

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Outcome: Martin received an indefinite suspension (termination) for the 2015 incident. He appealed, and in 2017 an arbitrator reinstated him to SAPD, apparently swayed by Martin’s claims of an exemplary record. During arbitration, Martin cited his supposed military service and other credentials to argue for leniency. However, it turned out Martin had lied about those credentials too – he falsely claimed to have served four years in the U.S. Marine Corps with a tour in Afghanistan, when in reality he never completed boot camp​

. He also fabricated having worked on a Secret Service detail and having a college degree​

. When these falsehoods came to light via an anonymous tip, SAPD opened a new investigation. This time Martin faced possible perjury charges for lying under oath in arbitration​

. Although the District Attorney convened a grand jury, the charges were ultimately dropped (a decision DA Nico LaHood later criticized)​

. To avoid further action, Martin agreed to resign from SAPD in late 2017 rather than face the new charges​

. In sum, Martin was initially fired and then rehired, only to be forced out once his pattern of dishonesty was fully exposed. His law enforcement career ended with no criminal conviction, but his credibility in ruins.

## Officer Forum Links:
– [Officer Matthew Martin](https://watchaudits.com/forums/topic/officer-matthew-martin/)

• Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVlaJ7MgafE

Forum Links