The Houston Police Department and the Harris County District Attorney’s Office announced a change this week to how evidence is stored and processed for criminal cases after a rodent infestation caused some issues.
Police Chief Noè Diaz announced in a press conference that in October the HPD noticed the rats were consuming old marijuana in the evidence property room.
“400,000 pounds of marijuana and storage and the rats are the only ones enjoying it,” said Houston Mayor John Whitmire.
“Think about it, they are drug-addicted rats. They’re tough to deal with,” Peter Stout, CEO of Houston Forensic Science Center said.
Whitmire says the overall problem is that so much evidence is stored that it is no longer needed.
“The problem has been so much evidence is kept and stored that it is no longer needed; that has no impact on the resolution of that charge that conviction, or even that innocence,” he said during the press conference.
He went on to announce that they will be working with the DA to make sure the evidence is properly handled and if it’s no longer needed there will be space for property that is important.
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HPD says there are 1.2 million pieces of evidence currently being stored, and it is no longer relevant.
Before this, evidence like sticks, tennis rackets, bicycles and even rocks were kept for sometimes decades from cases that were solved long ago.
They say that a combination of communication and laws are the main source preventing the destruction of the evidence in a timely manner.
They also said this has caused rats and mold to accumulate in the evidence locker, risking the contamination of new evidence.
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“Now that this has come to light, I think you’re going to see a lot of pushback from the defense about the integrity of evidence used against people they represent,” said Anthony Osso a criminal defense attorney in Houston.
All narcotic evidence obtained before 2015 will be cleared from the shelves and destroyed with the cooperation of the Harris County District Attorney’s Office and the Houston Forensic Science Center.
Records of the evidence will be kept indefinitely.
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