By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
Editor’s Note: This is the first of a series of stories chronicling the issue of evidence and how it is being handled by the Del Rio Police Department and how it may affect past, current and future investigations as well as the cases involved.
Testimony about a previous internal police department investigation into the handling of evidence in numerous felony criminal cases surfaced during a recent murder trial in state district court.
The evidence handling issues were made public during testimony given by Del Rio Police Department Officer Oscar Gonzalez, a member of the DRPD’s detective division and the lead investigator in the murder case, and by DRPD Sgt. Emilio Galindo, who assisted Gonzalez with the murder investigation.
Gonzalez testified under cross-examination by San Antonio defense attorney Sylvia Cavazos, who represented Del Rioan Freddy Villanueva, the defendant on trial.
On Wednesday, Dec. 8, Cavazos questioned Gonzalez about the investigation into the murder of Manuel Sanchez, the incident for which her client was on trial, as well as evidence Gonzalez collected in the case and the process of his investigation.
She asked about 68 pieces of evidence Gonzalez had failed to submit in a timely manner in the case against her client and asked about evidence submitted by police investigators in cases where the defendant had already been sentenced.
She noted the evidence Gonzalez had not submitted in the Villanueva case consisted of a series of recordings of phone calls Villanueva made while being held at the Val Verde County Detention Center, and she pointed out some of the evidence in other cases dealt with aggravated sexual assault investigations.
Cavazos challenged Gonzalez’s credibility as an investigator and charged he “had failed to investigate cases properly.”
“How did all this come to light?” Cavazos asked Gonzalez.
Gonzalez replied he previously had been transferred out of the police department’s criminal investigations division and had been asked to turn in information he had on the various cases he was investigating at the time.
At the close of the department’s internal affairs investigation into the evidence issues, Gonzalez reportedly received a reprimand letter.
Cavazos asked Gonzalez if he had shared the disciplinary action report from the chief of police with the district attorney.
“No,” Gonzalez replied.
“So you were not forthcoming with the district attorney?” Cavazos asked.
“I would have told her if she had asked,” Gonzalez answered.
District Attorney Suzanne West, who also questioned Gonzalez, asked specifically about the evidence in the Villanueva case.
Gonzalez testified the evidence in the Villanueva case was a series of 68 recorded “jail calls” saved on a DVD.
West asked the investigator if the calls had been discussed as part of the Villanueva trial.
“The jail calls were not discussed at trial,” Gonzalez replied.
Under further questions from West, Gonzalez testified the Villanueva case had been his first murder case, and he had worked continuously to improve his processes since the internal affairs investigations and his reprimand.
More information about the police department’s mishandling of evidence arose during the testimony of DRPD Sgt. Emilio Galindo, who had assisted Gonzalez with the Sanchez murder case.
Galindo, who has been with the DRPD for eight years, testified about his involvement in the investigation of the Villanueva case.
On cross-examination, Cavazos asked him, “Are you aware there was evidence submitted after the case was sent to the district attorney for review?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Galindo replied.
The last DRPD officer called to the stand to testify was Senior Officer Dulce Gonzalez, the department’s internal affairs investigator.
Gonzalez testified about her work, noting her investigations are usually initiated by external complaints or complaints filed by DRPD supervisors and co-workers. She noted she investigates whether or not department policies and state law were followed.
Cavazos asked her how the investigation of DRPD Detective Oscar Gonzalez began.
“I received an email from (the department’s) evidence technician that evidence had been turned in late,” Gonzalez replied.
Gonzalez testified her first step after receiving the email was to notify her chain of command, which at the time included former DRPD Capt. William Rattay and former DRPD Chief Fred Knoll Jr.
“Chief Knoll then asked me to conduct an informal inquiry to check and see if evidence had been handled properly. My preliminary investigation revealed that several pieces of evidence were not turned in in a timely manner and that there were other officers involved,” Gonzalez testified.
She said Knoll then asked her to open a formal internal affairs investigation and testified the findings against the officers “were sustained.”
Gonzalez also testified she found that “Oscar Gonzalez had failed to properly submit evidence in a timely manner.”
“On this specific case, there was one item not turned in in a timely manner,” the DVD containing the 68 jail phone calls, Gonzalez testified.
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