SpaceCity Posted September 3, 2004 Share Posted September 3, 2004 A wastebasket sits in place to catch water from a leaky ceiling at the Houston Police Department's crime lab. An employee of the lab took this a series of photographs in 2002 to record leaks that some critics say may have jeopardized evidence. Police turn up hundreds of boxes of evidence from crime lab Houston Chronicle Crime Lab Stories By ROMA KHANNA The Houston Police Department has discovered evidence from 8,000 criminal cases that was improperly stored in its property room, Police Chief Harold Hurtt said today. The discovery adds to HPD's ongoing problems with its crime lab. The 280 boxes containing evidence from cases processed between 1979 and 1991 were found in the property room in August 2003, but they were not opened until last week. The boxes include evidence -- such as bloody clothing, human body parts and a fetus -- from homicides and other cases. Hurtt said the department will methodically go through all of the items to look for new evidence in old cases. He expects the process to take about a year. The boxes were located as part of the department's ongoing efforts to improve its crime lab and evidence-processing capabilities. Hurtt said they sat unopened for a year because the labels on the boxes indicated they were from several hundred closed cases. The boxes actually could contain evidence from thousands of open and pending cases, Hurtt said. Evidence Room Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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