Harris County DA Dismisses 90 Cases and Possibly More

The Harris County District Attorney’s Office is having to reexamine hundreds of cases including felonies because a deputy improperly disposed of evidence in Precinct 4 Constable’s Office. The incident has led to 90 cases being dismissed because of compromised evidence, but many local defense attorneys are stating they were never aware of the damage. Tyler Flood, a partner at Tyler Flood & Associates, Inc., experienced this himself with several of his own cases. On August 17^th, Flood’s client David Bellamy was offered a plea deal from prosecutor Justin Keiter. Keiter pushed for the deal, but Bellamy refused. It was only after the refusal that Keiter informed Flood there were issues with evidence. Bellamy was arrested for possession of meth, marijuana and drug paraphernalia on June 18^th, 2015. However, police no longer have evidence associated with the case. Now Bellamy’s legal counsel is claiming the search was illegal and the officer’s account is inconsistent with video evidence. Officials are starting to conduct an audit on the property room to assess the damage. They state they will need an outside consultant to review the department’s evidence procedures.