HOUSTON — Cases involving an undercover Houston police officer accused of lying in an affidavit to secure a drug search warrant may be in jeopardy, according to defense lawyers.
The undercover officer saluted by HPD Chief Art Acevedo the night of the deadly drug raid on Harding Street heard a different boss 18 days later.
“His actions in terms of his conduct are in question,” Chief Acevedo said. “There are some serious questions.”
Investigators found lies in the affidavit used to secure permission from a judge to search the house raided, according to the chief.
“It looks as if something was happening, probably something not good happening at the house,” said Joe Gamaldi, president of the Houston Police Officers Union. “But it appears our officer may not have done his proper due diligence in proving all of that.”
“It’s going to call into question all of the work that (the undercover officer has) done,” said Doug Murphy, a 20-year defense attorney and president of the Harris County Criminal Lawyers Association.
Warrants rely on credible and reliable officers as witnesses, Murphy said. If they lose credibility, they undermine evidence in every case the officer touched. That includes cases pending and settled, according to Murphy.
Lawyers with cases involving the officers relieved of duty in the drug raid are already planning to file for dismissal.
“Cases that are pending right now they’ll file a motion to suppress to get the evidence thrown out very easily,” Murphy said. “On past cases what they’ll do is file an application for a writ of habeus corpus to undo that.”
That likely means new hearings, more work for judges, prosecutors and more scrutiny on other officers trying to get warrants.
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