HOUSTON – Three months after a faulty sprinkler head went off inside a freezer of the Houston Police Department’s property room, work is being done to determine if anything was contaminated.
The mishap occurred in October and it took until mid-December for HPD personnel to repackage hundreds of pieces of evidence.
Records obtained by Channel 2 investigates showed 59 pieces of evidence connected to several active cases are being now being analyzed. According to police, those piece of evidence are connected six murders, eight sexual assaults, three aggravated assaults, attempted burglary, robbery and stalking.
“To the defendant, his lawyer, the prosecutor and the complainants, it's a big darn deal,” said Channel 2 legal analyst Brian Wice. “We count on people putting their faith and their trust in criminal justice system to achieve a fair trial and reliable results.”
Wice said in addition to the Houston Forensic Science Center analyzing the evidence, defense attorneys will also ask for an independent analysis.
“Rule No. 1 in the criminal defense lawyer playbook is trust, but verify,” said Wice.
Officials report another 584 pieces of evidence connected to 256 open, but not active cases will also have to be examined. The remaining 966 pieces of evidence are connected to 2,410 closed cases. It is important to note that it is not yet known whether any evidence was actually contaminated.
When we contacted the Harris County District Attorney's Office, we were sent a statement.
“We are reviewing the situation regarding the potentially impacted evidence. Defense lawyers have been previously notified of the situation and invited to individually accompany prosecutors to look at the evidence in their client’s case. With regard to the impact on any evidence, cases will be resolved on a case by case basis. No time frame has been established,” said spokesperson Dane Schiller.
Officials said the pieces of evidence connected to active cases are a priority for examination, but could not give us a time frame when that work will be complete.