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Public servant assaults, felony DWI and drug case among those dismissed after errant Schertz PD evidence purge

Seven felony counts dismissed by Guadalupe County Attorney on Wednesday, three misdemeanor dismissals pending

SCHERTZ, Texas The Guadalupe County Attorney this week dismissed felony cases against five defendants after evidence in each of the criminal matters was improperly destroyed by the Schertz Police Department, court records obtained by KSAT Investigates show.

The move by prosecutors was the latest step in the months-long fallout from over a decade's worth of evidence being destroyed or removed from the department's property room without prosecutorial review.

A Feb. 15 letter from Guadalupe County Attorney David Willborn accused Schertz PD of asking judges to sign destruction orders for drug evidence and weapons without them being reviewed by prosecuting agencies.

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This is very sad for the victims of any crimes that will be dismissed because of this.

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Schertz police officials confirmed last week that 1,047 cases mostly in Guadalupe County were impacted by the purge.

A Schertz spokeswoman confirmed last week that no officers were suspended as a result of the incident, but were instead coached or counseled.

The department was also reviewing and updating its policies and processes as of last week, the spokeswoman said.

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Wow, just wow.


Dismissals signed Wednesday


Robinson-Torres-Torres

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Among the cases dismissed by Willborn on Wednesday were two counts of assaulting a public servant filed against defendant Adriana Torres in 2013.

Torres had failed to appear in court for a scheduled plea hearing in the case in late August of 2014, Guadalupe County court records show.

Prosecutors also dismissed an evading-arrest-with-a-motor-vehicle charge against defendant Rafael Garcia.

Two counts of credit card abuse were dismissed for defendant Cathryn Gunther as well as a drug possession case against defendant Michael Robinson.

There had been no updates in Robinson's criminal case since May 2016, records show.

Luis Torres, a repeat drunk driver, had a felony DWI case dismissed, according to court filings.

He had previously failed to appear in court for the case in December 2015, records show.

Three misdemeanor cases are in the process of being dismissed as well, Willborn confirmed this week.

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So very sad and frustrating.

I guess no one gets fired anymore.
Just do your job, put it in the ditch, rinse, repeat.

People should be fired for this type of bull***** But they won't becuase MuH UnIoNs...

Competence. Rip.

How do you "destroy" evidence by negligence? Each item is in a bag/container/bin marked with case # and usually a bar / scannable inventory code. Each also generally has a review date.

But perhaps Schertz PD lacks such controls.

Pedro Principle.

On the other hand, maybe prosecutors need to do a better job at getting cases to trial or work out some kind of plea bargain. Seems like 6-9 years is a bit long. (Granted I am making an assumption - could have been mistrial, appeals, etc but if cases were active I doubt would have destroyed evidence).

I believe this is what legal experts refer to as an "oopsie daisy "

Yes, seems really "vague" on how that was worded.

The guy with the felony DWI didn't show up to court in 2015 and the case is still pending? HowTF is he not in jail?

TxTarpon said:

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Yes, seems really "vague" on how that was worded.

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Unless Schertz PD has officers connected with these cases who have been found non credible and they don't want cases going to trial because of discovery.

That's the thing about going to trial: as witnesses, police are assumed to have some degree of credibility and at least a basic degree of honesty. It is therefore disappointing when they don't have those traits.

As officers of the court in an adversarial environment, attorneys are not assumed to be pursuing honest ends and it is always a pleasant surprise when they do exhibit integrity.

Yep
I think there will be more to this.

UTExan said:

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TxTarpon said:

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Yes, seems really "vague" on how that was worded.

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Unless Schertz PD has officers connected with these cases who have been found non credible and they don't want cases going to trial because of discovery.

That's the thing about going to trial: as witnesses, police are assumed to have some degree of credibility and at least a basic degree of honesty. It is therefore disappointing when they don't have those traits.

As officers of the court in an adversarial environment, attorneys are not assumed to be pursuing honest ends and it is always a pleasant surprise when they do exhibit integrity.

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By whom? I assume police have no more credibility or honesty than the next rando I meet on the street.