HEADLINE: Evidence room search legal without warrant  Ruling came in case against technician accused of stealing

BY: MIKE HOYEM mhoyem@news-press.com

Its official, folks. The Lee County Sheriff's Office does not need a search warrant to go through items in its own evidence room.

Not, at least, in the case of Diane Kasper, the evidence technician arrested Feb. 1 for allegedly trying to steal a pistol from the section of the evidence room where guns are stored. 

Kasper, 54, of Cape Coral is charged with grand theft of a firearm and official misconduct, which are both third-degree felonies punishable by up to five years in prison.

She went before Lee Circuit Judge R. Thomas Corbin on Friday asking that the evidence against her be ruled inadmissible in court because the sheriff's office didn't obtain a search warrant to open the brown paper package in which she is accused of hiding the gun.

Kasper's attorney, Robert B. Burandt, told Corbin the search was illegal because Kasper had told a superior, Lt. Edward Stone, the package was her property.

But Stone, who heads the sheriff's forensics unit, testified Kasper changed her story as he was looking into suspicions that Kasper was trying to steal the gun.

When Kasper was first questioned about the package she'd kept under her desk, she said it was an item she was going to destroy for a deputy, Stone said.

When she was asked to open the package, "She changed her story and told me it was her own personal property," Stone said.

Burandt cited numerous appeals court cases regarding illegal searches and told the judge it would have been easy to secure the package and get a warrant.

"I see this all the time in law enforcement," Burandt said. "For some reason, law enforcement officers, when it comes to their own, never seem to want to follow the rules."

Corbin didn't buy it.

"I really don't see any expectation of privacy" in the evidence room, Corbin said, adding that Stone was "perfectly justified in reaching under the desk, picking it up and checking it out."
Burandt declined comment after the hearing, saying he couldn't discuss a pending case.

Assistant State Attorney Corey Smith was pleased.

"I think he came to the correct conclusion," Smith said. "There was no basis for the motion."

HEADLINE: GLOBE NORTHWEST 2; DA OPENS PROBE OF MISSING DRUGS

The Middlesex County District Attorney's Office has sent State Police investigators to Dracut to find out how $80,000 worth of marijuana disappeared from the evidence locker at the police station.

According to Seth Horwitz, a spokesman for District Attorney Martha Coakley, the State Police are leading the investigation. They are to report back to Coakley's office, he said.

  Horwitz said someone on the Dracut police force discovered that the marijuana was missing on April 17 or 18. In an interview Thursday, he estimated the street value at $80,000.

As the investigation moves forward, both the DA's office and local officials are keeping quiet.
"We are mindful to comment only on information that will not impair the integrity of the investigation," Horwitz said.

Police Chief Louis Panas and Town Manager Dennis Piendak also declined to comment, saying they didn't want to jeopardize an ongoing investigation. Panas also said he has ordered his staff not to talk about the investigation.

The incident occurred about six months after residents voted to build a $6.2 million police station. Last fall, before a packed Town Meeting, Panas gave a list of reasons why the current station, built in 1970, no longer adequately serves the community. He mentioned that the overcrowded station uses two trailers for storage.

Dracut has grown considerably since the current station was built.

His arguments were persuasive; despite tough fiscal times, voters approved the construction of the new building.

HEADLINE: A dangerous purge

Is it an evidence room or a black hole? Plenty of DNA samples, murder weapons and other materials go into the New Orleans Police Department's evidence room. But after a major purge two years ago, investigators who have needed some of that evidence to link suspects to certain crimes haven't been able to get it. Evidence from more than 100 rape and murder trials has been lost, according to sources familiar with a Police Department investigation. 

Rape victims and the survivors of murder victims deserve better. If crime scene investigators can collect the evidence, officers in the evidence room ought to be able to preserve it and organize it.
But in 2001, the Police Department conducted a major housecleaning of its Central Evidence and Property Room. At that point evidence from many old cases -- including murder weapons, DNA samples and doctors' reports on rape victims -- got tossed out.

So much crucial evidence was destroyed that it's impossible to view the purge as a minor lapse of judgment. That's why Police Superintendent Eddie Compass and District Attorney Eddie Jordan are working together to determine whether there were laws broken during the evidence room cleanup.

Superintendent Compass has handed the district attorney a report -- hundreds of pages long -- that reveals the magnitude of problems in the evidence room. He says the district attorney is "looking at it right now for potential criminal violations."

The new, serious tone from Superintendent Compass is encouraging. In February when news first broke that missing evidence had made it impossible for the department's cold-case squad to link a murder suspect to the crime, he said reports about the evidence were being sensationalized.

The superintendent now acknowledges that the problem is far worse than he thought it was in February. He admits his previous comments were made "based on the limited information I had at the time." It's good to know he's now focusing attention on the problem. For if a source familiar with the report is to be believed, the amount of critical evidence destroyed is enough "to haunt the Police Department for years to come."

The purging of the evidence room took place before Eddie Compass was in charge of the Police Department. Nevertheless, it's important that he be the one to fix the problem.

If it means he has to reassign some officers -- or even terminate them -- then so be it. No matter what, he can't ignore officers whose actions enable murderers and rapists to continue walking the streets.

The person who killed 19-year-old Vanessa Bodden 14 years ago is still out there. Earlier this year, detectives thought they'd found the person who raped and killed her. But when they went to retrieve the evidence they needed to make a match, nearly all of the evidence was gone.

"You're just going to arbitrarily grab evidence and get rid of it?" asks Vanessa's brother Waldo Bodden. "That to me is criminal."

An investigation may indicate whether the destruction of evidence rises to the level of a criminal offense. Or maybe those who tossed out the evidence were just incompetent. Whichever it is, Superintendent Compass must make sure the next time his shelves are meant to be cleaned up, they don't get cleaned out instead.

HEADLINE: HAINES CITY POLICE OFFICER UNDER INVESTIGATION; AN ALLEGATION THAT HE "MISHANDLED" EVIDENCE SPARKS AN INQUIRY, SUSPENSION.

HAINES CITY -- A Haines City police officer has been suspended and an internal investigation begun into an allegation that he "mishandled" evidence, the department's acting chief said Tuesday.

Lt. Morris West, the acting chief, said he could not disclose any details of the investigation involving Cpl. Randolph Alexander, except to say an allegation was brought to the department's attention by Winter Haven police. 

Winter Haven Police Chief Darrell Kirkland could not be reached for comment.

West would not elaborate on what constituted mishandling evidence, although he said it wasn't a case of items missing from the department's evidence room.

The acting chief said he learned of the allegation Monday and signed a memo asking for Alexander's suspension. The corporal's supervisor, patrol Lt. Brian McNulty, notified Alexander on Monday afternoon that he was being suspended with pay while the internal investigation was under way. Alexander, 38, turned in his badge and his gun, West said.

"We can't say we are disappointed." West said. "We are shocked."

"He's one of the most dependable officers," said West of Alexander, who has been with the department for 11 years and who, as of September, was paid about $ 36,000 a year. More recent salary records were not available.

However, West said Alexander, who was hired at the department in Dec. 2, 1991, has had disciplinary problems.

"He's had some problems in the past," West said. "He had some stuff in-house."

Deputy Chief Wendall Maggard said Alexander has been the subject of several internal investigations, but "most of them have been unfounded or unsubstantiated."

Lt. Fred Daniell will conduct the internal review, but he is scheduled to undergo surgery May 27. West said police may consider having another agency complete the internal review.

HEADLINE: Former prosecutor's investigator convicted of theft

DATELINE: CINCINNATI

A former prosecutor's investigator pleaded no contest to a charge that he stole money from an evidence room.

Pete Marshall, 58, could be sentenced to up to 18 months in prison on one count of theft in office. He entered his plea Tuesday in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court.

Prosecutors said Marshall took $2,817 from the evidence room in the Hamilton County prosecutor's office in 1996 - money he said he used to buy Christmas gifts. Marshall repaid the money Tuesday.

State Treasurer Joe Deters, who was in charge of the county prosecutor's office when the theft happened, voluntarily testified before the grand jury that indicted Marshall. Deters was not accused of any wrongdoing.

The thefts were discovered when money turned up missing late last year. Hamilton County Prosecutor Mike Allen turned the investigation over to the county sheriff's office.

Marshall, who worked as an investigator in the prosecutor's office from January 1995 to August 2002, was accused of stealing cash from three envelopes stored in the prosecutor's property room.

Sentencing is scheduled for August.

HEADLINE: CRIME EVIDENCE GROWS MORE COLD STORAGE PREPARED

For Mesa police, the evidence of crime in their community is overwhelming-literally."DNA is just overtaking what we do," said Lane Darling, evidence section supervisor.

Next week, the department will be chilling down additional freezer and refrigerated evidence rooms to hold the mounting batches of biological samples needed to prosecute such crimes as DUI, homicide and sexual assault. 

"They should have everything done by Friday, but we're going to test everything before we utilize it," Darling said.

The current freezer, 25 feet by 30 feet, maintains a breath-stealing temperature of minus 11 degrees. It protects items such as sheets or pieces of carpeting that have dried biological samples on them.

The refrigerated room, 25 feet by 10 feet, is kept at a relatively balmy 40degrees and contains liquid biological samples.” It’s the blood tubes they take from DUI suspects, homicide victims and suspects," Darling said.

Two thermometers, both rigged with alarms, monitor the rooms to ensure the quality of the evidence inside. Outside, parkas and gloves hang ready for evidence technicians to don as they enter.

Darling, who has supervised the evidence building since 1996, said his job is to determine how much space police will need, not just in the cold storage but throughout the warehouse.

The freezer is 95 percent full. There's a little more leeway in the refrigerator, which is about 75 percent full. But that isn't enough of a cushion, Darling said.

"The stuff is really starting to come in now from the triple homicide,” said Darling, referring to three employees killed Sunday night at a Mesa Jack In The Box. "With those types of crimes, you're going to have a lot of possible DNA evidence."

A garage that had been used as a weight room was renovated for the new freezer and fridge. A contractor demolished the concrete floor, poured a new one with a thermal barrier inside the concrete. The prefabricated rooms were installed on the new foundation. The department is spending $278,000 on the addition, which began in late March.

But plans to expand the rest of the evidence building are uncertain, attest.