Miami: Policeman ate evidence!

A retired police chief ate a piece of paper to protect the identity of an anonymous tipster. The judge demanded the paper containing the tip, but Richard Masten, now the executive director of the Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers, refused.

Masten said he understood the consequences when he gobbled up the possible evidence and had he handed over the notes like the judge asked, he would allow the court to set a new precedent for cases and slide down a slippery slope.

"I make a promise to tipsters out there," Masten said in Miami Herald reports. "It isn't going to happen on my watch. If you want to put me in jail, fine."