Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot Thursday announced an audit of every case touched by a Dallas Police detective involved in a high-profile murder case that defense attorneys want to be dropped over missing evidence.
It’s the second time in two years that Dallas Police are scrambling to address data and evidence problems.
The new case in the 282nd District Court is a pending trial for the 2020 murder of Marisela Botello Valadez. The 23-year-old woman from Seattle was last seen in Deep Ellum in October 2020. Her body was found months later near Wilmer.
Nina Marano is one of the defendants in the case. Heath Harris, one of her attorneys, said charges should be dropped because of missing evidence.
“Whether it’s material to the court, material to the defense material to the state, we’ll never know that because we don’t have it,” Harris said.
In court records, Harris said 18 videos recorded as evidence at the Mesquite house where the murder allegedly occurred have disappeared.
In court, Harris said the lead detective in the case, Christine Ramirez, admitted errors in saving data and apologized.
Thursday, District Attorney John Creuzot said in a statement he wants an audit of every case Ramirez ever touched.
