Police in February also arrested independent filmmaker Christopher Phillips, seizing his camera with an estimated value of $20,000. When the device was returned, the connection pins on the memory card had been damaged, Phillips said.

Some footage on Phillips’ camera from that night was preserved. It captured officers briefly turning the machine on after receiving it into evidence, according to a scene reviewed by the Post-Dispatch.

“Everything is time-stamped,” Phillips said after the hearing. “Two hours after I was in holding, there is a clip. Instead of sealing and bagging it like they are supposed to do and not tampering with it, I have evidence they did tamper with it ... Maybe that’s part of the reason why they dropped all the charges.”

Khazaeli said he had been to Ferguson’s court roughly 15 times for the case and worked on it for many hours. “I hope that this wasn’t a plan to make us waste our time and hundreds of hours worth of resources,” he said.

Khazaeli said the city had given every indication it intended to try the case, filing a brief just a day earlier.

On Thursday, Karr’s notice that the charges were being dropped was handwritten, and it said the charges could be refiled.