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Dallas detective allegedly deleted videos from murder case, hundreds of cases now under review
The Dallas County District Attorney's Office is auditing all of the police detective's cases. DA John Creuzot says what they find could make people eligible for new trials.
DALLAS - Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot says his office is auditing all of a Dallas police detective's cases after allegations surfaced that videos were deleted in a high profile murder case.
"I was shocked that somebody would handle a case like this," Creuzot said.
The DA says he sat in on a hearing last week for Nina Marano.
She's charged with murder in the death of Marisela Botello.
The 23-year-old was found dead after traveling from Seattle to Dallas in October 2020.
Marisela Botello-Valadez
According to Marano's attorneys, some evidence wasn't turned over to them and other videos were deleted.
"We have an officer we went to several times, different prosecutors, and asked ‘are these all of the files?’ and the answer was yes. That was her answer. Reality was no, and far from it," said Creuzot.
The DA's office is reviewing all cases connected to detective Christine Ramirez.
Dallas police have opened an Internal Affairs investigation into Ramirez.
In a court filing, Marano's attorneys have asked a judge to toss the case writing, "Whether it is gross negligence or intentional acts by the Dallas Police Department, the dismissal of the indictment with prejudice is the proper remedy."
Creuzot says the audit is in the beginning stages, but the cases could number in the hundreds.
"Every case she has ever filed and any case she worked on, our intention is to audit all of those cases regardless of where they are. If there have been convictions we need to know what, if anything, wasn’t turned over, so we can turn it over to the defense. It may have a bearing on whether a person is entitled to a new trial," he said.
The investigation comes just days after the Dallas Morning News reported on a separate issue with Dallas PD's data.
A department audit late last year uncovered thousands of videos within the Dallas Police Department's system were uncategorized.
The department says it has since been able to fix the issue for many of the videos.
Creuzot says he wishes his office learned about it sooner, but so far there is no evidence any of the files were critical.
"My understanding is it’s turning body cameras on and off. It may have been something at a scene that didn’t develop into a case, it may be talking to someone where there’s no crime, maybe put in the place where it was at the end of a shift and not tagged properly," he said.
Two years ago the department's data management was in the spotlight for another issue.
A 2021 audit uncovered an IT worker's mistake led to the deletion of 8 million files and a separate incident led to the loss of 4.5 million files.
READ MORE: Dallas police data loss: IT employee reckless, but no malicious intent, report finds
[REPORTER: "Do you have any doubts or concerns in terms of how the Dallas Police Department is managing its data?"]
"I think they’re doing the best they can under the circumstances. It’s very difficult to manage this much digital evidence today," said Creuzot. "I think there’s a good faith effort from the police command to get this right."
Dallas City Council's Public Safety Committee will be briefed on the issues with the uncategorized videos next month.
The Marano case is currently scheduled to go to trial March 27, with the judge yet to rule on the motion for dismissal.