Murder case dropped over destroyed evidence

Posted at 09:11 AM on Thursday, Jul. 08, 2010
By SUDHIN THANAWALA - Associated Press Writer Share

SAN FRANCISCO -- A Fresno County judge has dismissed murder charges against a defendant after learning that authorities destroyed key evidence in the case.

Jaime Morales, 54, was accused of fatally shooting Porfirio Silva Gutierrez and Rodimiro Quiroz during an argument over betting at a cockfighting party in Parlier in 1995. He was arrested last year in Arizona and set to go on trial this month.

But Judge Edward Sarkisian Jr. dismissed two murder charges and two attempted murder charges on Tuesday after learning that ballistics evidence, including guns, diagrams based on witness accounts and shell casings, were destroyed following the acquittal of another defendant, Santiago Sanchez, for the same murders in 1996.

Under state law, the court may destroy evidence following an acquittal, unless attorneys request its preservation.

The court in this case informed prosecutors that the evidence would be destroyed, but for some reason was never told to hold onto it, said Sonia De La Rosa, a spokeswoman for the district attorney's office.

De La Rosa said on Thursday the destruction took place under the previous district attorney, Ed Hunt, and the people who worked on the case are no longer with the office.

The district attorney's office, though, felt there was still sufficient evidence to go forward with the prosecution, De La Rosa said.

"We had eyewitness identifications on the suspect," she said.

But Morales's attorney, Bonnie Bitter, said the witnesses' testimony during Morales's preliminary hearing was inconsistent with their accounts during Sanchez's trial.

"Given the amount of evidence that was lost, it really prejudiced our case to an extreme extent," she said.

Morales was facing a minimum of 50 years to life if convicted on all four charges, Bitter said. He is now on an immigration hold and will likely be deported back to his native Mexico.

"My client has always maintained his innocence," she said. "He is relieved and happy to be done with it."

Peter Henning, an expert in criminal law at Wayne State University Law School, said it's rare for evidence to be destroyed while a suspect is still at large.

"Unfortunately for the prosecution, stuff happens," Henning said. "You wish it didn't happen, but these are human beings."

http://www.fresnobee.com/2010/07/08/199 ... k=misearch