In Dallas, a massive—and systemic—error on the part of the Dallas Police Department has thrown wrenches into multiple high-profile trials, including that of Nina Marano, accused of the murder of Marisela Botella Valadez, a young woman visiting the city from Seattle, in October 2020.
Marano’s trial had been set for January, but it was postponed when it was discovered a DPD detective had failed to turn over hundreds of pieces of video evidence before trial. The detective had improperly saved the pieces of evidence, causing nearly 20 files to be permanently deleted and many more to be lost in the ether. Now, the case is once again stalled after a visiting judge last week removed Judge Amber Givens, who presides over the court, after she criticized prosecutors for failing to notice the evidence was not turned over to defense attorneys.
In November, the Dallas Police took an unusual step: They performed a self-audit, and the results were shocking. Nearly 90,000 pieces of digital evidence—including body cam footage and crime scene photos—had been improperly stored on their server since 2016. This means officers and prosecutors may not have been aware that they had evidence pertaining to a particular case, and if they did, the evidence would have been nearly impossible to find. As of last month, more than 50,000 pieces remained uncategorized, as police continue to suss out the extent of the damage.
