By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the second in a series of stories chronicling problems with the Del Rio Police Department and its handling of evidence and how it affected past, present and future criminal investigations and their subsequent trials.
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Four Del Rio Police Department detectives each received a letter of reprimand in March 2021 following an internal investigation into the way they handled evidence as part of criminal investigations they were conducting, city records show.
The letter of reprimand was the only punishment doled out related the internal investigation.
The way the four officers handled numerous pieces of evidence in some of their criminal cases was brought into question during a recent murder trial in state district court here.
San Antonio attorney Sylvia Cavazos, representing defendant Freddy Villanueva, raised the evidence handling issue during the trial of her client on murder charges in December 2021.
Cavazos called two of the officers involved, DRPD Sgt. Jesus Galindo and DRPD Officer Oscar Gonzalez, to the stand to testify about evidence they had collected, but had turned in after the case against her client had already been forwarded to the district attorney’s office for prosecution.
The late evidence in the Villanueva case was a compact disk containing recordings of jail phone calls between Villanueva and various persons.
During the trial, Cavazos also called DRPD Cpl. Dulce Gonzalez to the stand to testify about her investigation into the evidence handling. Gonzalez is the police department’s internal affairs investigator.
After the trial, The 830 Times submitted an open records request to the city asking for copies of the complaint that led to the evidence handling investigation, a summary of the investigation’s findings and copies of reprimands issued. The investigation into the evidence handling began in the fall of 2020 and continued until early 2021.
The city released most of the requested information Dec. 27, 2021. Not released was information regarding police investigations that are still ongoing.
Included in the release are four “final investigative reports” written by Dulce Gonzalez and forwarded to then-DPRD Chief Fred Knoll Jr. and Administrative Capt. Robert Guzman. The four reports are dated Dec. 9, 2020; Dec. 16, 2020; Dec. 29, 2020, and Feb. 9, 2021.
The four reports deal with findings against Sgt. Jesus Galindo, Officer Oscar Gonzalez, Officer Michelle Salinas and Officer David Anguiano.
Each of Cpl. Gonzalez’s investigative reports begins with a summary of how the investigation began.
“On Sept. 2, 2020, Internal Affairs Investigator D. Gonzalez received an email from Evidence Technician Guadalupe Gomez. The email consisted of a log created by Gomez in which she documented evidence recently submitted by former detectives Michelle Salinas and Oscar Gonzalez,” the reports begin.
“Both detectives had received a letter of transfer from their detective positions to enforcement, where they were assigned to patrol duties. It was the concern of the evidence technician that both detectives submitted multiple pieces of evidence several months and/or years after the items had been collected,” the report continues.
Cpl. Gonzalez wrote she informed her chain of command, including then-Administrative Capt. William Rattay and Knoll. She said she and Lt. Robert Hernandez, recently transferred from the department’s criminal investigations division, were “directed to initiate a supervisory review of the evidence submitted, along with a list of cases that could have been compromised by Detective Salinas’ and Detective Gonzalez’s failure to properly submit evidence in a timely manner.”
While conducting the ordered review, Gonzalez said she received another list, also prepared by Gomez, regarding “evidence for old cases” from Anguiano, who, like Salinas and Gonzalez, had recently been reassigned from the detective division to the patrol division.
“Due to the pattern revealed, IA Investigator D. Gonzalez and CID Lt. Robert Hernandez conducted an informal audit in the CID offices, searching for more possible evidence that had not been properly submitted. While doing so, (Gonzalez and Hernandez) learned of another detective who had also failed to properly submit evidence,” identified as Galindo.
Cpl. Gonzalez also wrote Knoll and Rattay then ordered two other officers, a corporal and a sergeant, to conduct an inquiry into the sexual assault investigations being conducted by the department and to provide the status of each case.
“During this inquiry, it was revealed that several sexual assault cases had not been properly investigated nor completed by their assigned investigators,” Cpl. Gonzalez wrote.
Knoll and Rattay also ordered all officers and detectives be given until Sept. 4, 2020, to submit “all pending evidence” in any cases they were working on.
Cpl. Gonzalez noted in the course of her investigation she, DRPD Sgt. Hubert Smith and Cpl. Robert Maldonado interviewed a detective not involved in the investigation “to explain what the issue was in (the) criminal investigations division at the time Det. Oscar Gonzalez, Det. Michelle Salinas, Det. David Anguiano and Det. Jesus Galindo were assigned to the division.”
“(The witness) explained there was a lot of ‘down time’ going on . . . a lot of talking going on and not a lot of productivity,” Cpl. Gonzalez wrote.
At the end of each final investigative report regarding Anguiano, Galindo, Gonzalez and Salinas, Cpl. Gonzalez summarized the results of the evidence turned in by the Sept. 4, 2020, deadline ordered by Knoll and Rattay.
“The evidence master list revealed Anguiano turned in 63 pieces of evidence between Sept. 2, 2020, and Sept. 10, 2020. Evidence dated back to offense dates of 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020,” she wrote.
She noted Gonzalez turned in 68 pieces of evidence between Aug. 28, 2020, and Sept. 10, 2020, for incidents that occurred between March 24, 2019 and Aug. 11, 2020.
She reported Salinas turned in a total of 30 items between Aug. 28, 2020 and Sept. 17, 2020 for incidents that occurred between Sept. 3, 2019, and Sept. 8, 2020.
Galindo is the only one of the four whose evidence turn-in information was not included in the report given to The 830 Times.
At the end of each of the four reports, Cpl. Gonzalez noted she “found enough facts to sustain violations to the following Texas Local Government Code and Del Rio Police Department policies,” which were then listed.
Each of the officers targeted in the investigation was given the opportunity to respond in writing to the investigation and its findings. All were contrite and expressed remorse, and at least wrote “short staffing” in the detective division was at least partly to blame for the problem.
All four reprimanded officers also said they believe they had learned from their errors and would not allow such a situation to occur again.
One of the four, Salinas, noted, “I did have my (case) folders secured in a place where no one would be able to get a hold of them or the evidence if any attached. I did not lose or mishandle any evidence or give anybody else control of the evidence that I had for my cases.”
The last documents received by The 830 Times are the four letters of reprimand Knoll issued following Cpl. Gonzalez’s investigation and findings.
“These allegations relate to the manner and spirit in which you maintained case files, failed to follow procedures and store and secure evidence, not only on one occasion but in several as outlined in the final conclusion report,” Knoll wrote in each letter of reprimand.
He also wrote, “Your conduct and action with regard to these findings are unacceptable and will not be tolerated by this department and could be considered in the future with regard to other similar violations of policy if they are committed by you or seem to be a pattern of repeat or similar behavior on your part. I do however believe that you are extremely much more capable of better performance as an employee or as a police officer and have faith that you will indeed correct such actions and do a better job. I hope to see an improvement in your work, interaction with officers, citizens and performance overall and will continue to monitor your performance. I ask and pray that you embrace and maintain that work ethic and spirit moving forward.”
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Contact the author at delriomagnoliafan@gmail.com
