Thousands of drunken-driving cases in the Houston area could be dismissed because of an inspector of alcohol breath test machines who didn't conduct the examinations she claimed to have completed.
The Texas Department of Public Safety announced Friday that it suspended the certification for a woman who contracted to keep the breath test machines accurate for the Clute, Friendswood, Galveston, League City, Pearland, Seabrook, South Houston and Webster police departments.
DPS said she altered electronic records to make it appear she'd tested and adjusted the calibrations of machines when she had not.
DPS officials said the woman, an independent contractor with each of the municipalities, had been falsifying records for up to a year and that would affect at least 2,600 DWI charges. The Texas Rangers are conducting the criminal investigation.
She has not been charged with any crime.
The inspector has been a breath test supervisor since the mid-1990s, according to DPS.
Defense lawyers said they would expect any charges filed in cases in which she testified or monitored going back years to be challenged.
"These are serious allegations, and we will not tolerate any activities that call into question the integrity of the breath test system. I want to emphasize that DPS discovered these irregularities and took immediate action," said Col. Stan Clark, interim
director of the DPS, in a news release.
DPS spokeswoman Tela Mange said the problem was discovered in a routine audit last week; the inspector was suspended on Thursday; and DPS met with the prosecutors in Harris, Galveston and Brazoria counties Friday to discuss the next steps.
The news was troubling for the police departments whose work might be undone.
"It's sickening," said Clute Police Chief Mark Wicker. "It's very disturbing."
He said the woman was hired in his city in mid-2006. "I didn't see her a whole lot, but she had a key and could have come in at night," Wicker said.
He said 46 DWI cases in Clute and the cities of Freeport and Richwood, which also used Clute's machine, could be in trouble.
South Houston Police Chief Herbert Gilbert said his city paid her $8,500 a year to take care of their machine. Now, he said, about 330 cases his officers worked hard to make could be in jeopardy.
"It could make all the officers did on the streets be for naught," Gilbert said.
Defense attorneys who handle DWI cases were outraged for different reasons.
"We shouldn't be going around giving people criminal records that will last the rest of their lives based on this woman's violation of the public trust," said Mark Bennett, who said the inspector was a witness in a DWI case he handled.
Troy McKinney, a Houston lawyer who specializes in DWI appeals, said this is especially tragic given that there are already questions about the science of these tests and a DWI conviction can be career changing for people.
He said he expects many people convicted or accused of DWI in these eight municipalities will hire lawyers to try to reverse convictions or get current cases dismissed. But McKinney cautioned that when there is other evidence, such as field sobriety tests or videos of the defendants, the cases may not go away just because of the breath test. If the woman testified in a trial, it might just be retried, he said.
Filing false government documents or perjury for testimony about the machines could both be possible charges against the inspector, attorneys said.
Harris County District Attorney Kenneth Magidson said in a news release that his office "has not announced" any charges.
"Our first and foremost goal is to ensure that justice is done. We are working closely with DPS to determine which, if any, cases may have been tainted by flawed or unreliable evidence," Magidson said in the release.
Richard Magness, Brazoria County first assistant district attorney, said authorities will get the names of the cases in question from DPS, notify the attorneys involved and review each case.
He said it is not yet determined whether any charges will be filed against the inspector.
Joel Bennett, Galveston County first assistant district attorney, said his office will also review DWI cases.
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