EXCLUSIVE: Precinct 7 provides look inside property room after audit
HARRIS COUNTY (KTRK) -- A day after a letter was sent out raising an alert on possible problems with the Precinct 7 property rooms, Constable May Walker tried to downplay the concern.
Constable and Sgt. Jimmy Adams, who is in charge of the property rooms, gave Eyewitness News an exclusive look inside.
"We are not a Precinct 4, so it shouldn't have been a concern," said Walker, referencing the recent evidence scandal at Precinct 4 that's led to the dismissal of more than a hundred criminal cases.
Precinct 7 has two separate property rooms. In the larger room, we saw boxes of evidence stacked and labeled. Guns involved in criminal cases were lined up along one wall. The entire room is held in the part of the Precinct 7 that was previously used as a holding cell. A smaller property room holds credit cards, cash and other smaller pieces of evidence related to financial cases.
Sgt. Adams oversees the rooms, and says they're audit ready.
"We're ready, we never did have anything to hide," said Adams, who spent decades at the Houston Police Department before joining Precinct 7 a few years ago.
Constable Walker is still obviously unhappy with the letter that the District Attorney's office sent out Thursday. It said that an outside auditor's spot checks revealed there may be problems locating evidence in Precinct 7. The letter urged all attorneys to double check before each Precinct 7 case heads to court. District Attorney Devon Anderson said the letter to all attorneys was a proper response.
"We got notified by the auditor's office there was some evidence that was possibly missing, so the responsible thing to do was to let our prosecutors know," said Anderson. "Of course, when you let prosecutors know they have to let defense attorneys know."
Walker says the letter was premature. She insists no evidence has gone missing, and hopes showing us the property rooms will prove her point. She also says any attorney can call her and ask to examine evidence for their cases. However, as of Friday afternoon, no one had yet called.
