Woman At Center Of Former Cop Cover Up Takes Stand

FT LAUDERDALE (CBSMiami) – The woman who was rear-ended by a Hollywood police officer and then made the 'fall guy' for the crash by another Hollywood officer took the stand for a second day on Thursday.

Alexandra Torrens-Villa took the stand for the second day in the trial of former Hollywood officer Dewey Pressley who is accused of falsifying police reports to protect fellow former officer Joel Francisco. Pressley is charged with four counts of official misconduct, four counts of falsifying records and one count each of conspiracy to commit official misconduct and conspiracy to falsify records. If convicted, he faces a maximum of 30 years in prison.

On the stand Torrens-Villas, 26, testified that on the night of the accident in February 2009, she stopped her car on Sheridan Street and got out of it to look for a cat which had jumped from her lap. She admitted to the jury that she had been drinking that night at a friends place and didn't even realize her car had been hit by officer Francisco until she was stopped from leaving the area, according to CBS4 news partner The Miami Herald.

Torrens-Villa was arrested and charged with four counts of drunk driving. While seated in the back of a patrol car, she reportedly heard Pressley discussing how he would shift the blame to her

The patrol car's dash cam, which recorded Pressley saying he would do 'a little Walt Disney' to shift blame from Francisco to Torrens-Villa was played for the jury on Wednesday.

"We'll do a little Walt Disney protect the cop because it wouldn't have mattered because she is drunk anyway," Pressley can be heard saying.

Pressley's lawyer claims the statements heard on the dash cam were just 'huffing and bragging'. Attorney Rhea Grossman said Pressley's report of the accident was based on the information provided to him at the scene.

In his report, Pressley wrote that a large cat which had been sitting in Torrens-Villas lap jumped out of the window. He wrote that the motion distracted her and she veered into Francisco's lane and braked, causing the Francisco to run into her.

Torrens-Villas said she was already stopped and out of her car when it was rear-ended by Francisco.

When Torrens-Villas' lawyer got the dash cam recordings released in July, all charges against her were dropped.
The following January, Pressley and Francisco were criminally charged and fired from the force. Three others involved in the cover up, including a crime scene technician and a sergeant, though not criminally charged were also fired.

Francisco has also been charged with misconduct. His trial will be held at a later date.

(TM and © Copyright 2011 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2010 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. CBS4 news partner The Miami Herald contributed to this report.)