Deputy fired in Goforth mistress case had previous policy violation on record
HOUSTON (KTRK) -- A Harris County Sheriff's deputy fired in the fallout from the Deputy Darren Goforth murder investigation was disciplined before for violating policy.
Deputy Marc Deleon was terminated form the sheriff's office last week for allegedly having a sexual relationship with the woman who said she was also Goforth's mistress and an eyewitness to his murder. Records, given to Eyewitness News, show he was the subject of an Internal Affairs Division investigation in 2011 involving his response to a crash in the Cypress area.
Lori Erwin called for help on September 28, 2011 after another vehicle backed into her in the 18000 block of Forrest Heights. She says she followed the driver fearing he wouldn't stop. Deputy Deleon met them in a parking lot at Barker Cypress and FM 529, but Erwin says it's didn't matter.
"He tells me 'I wasn't here, do you understand? I wasn't here.' I said, 'What do you mean you weren't here? This was a wreck. This was a hit and run. Can I have your badge number?' He said no," Erwin recalled their conversation.
She says Deleon let the other driver go, despite her suspicions he was impaired and then Deleon left. Erwin called a supervisor later to file an accident report and also filed a complaint with the Internal Affairs Division. Seven months later, that complaint was "sustained."
"That means he was found guilty for not doing his job," Erwin said as she sat with a number of reports and other paperwork laid out in front of her.
Last week, she was on the phone with her daughter when she heard about Deleon's termination.
"I said 'Oh my gosh' and I just dropped the phone on the floor. I was just shocked because I thought after all this (gesturing to the paperwork), he would have straightened up his act, you know, maybe learned from his mistakes," Erwin said.
The sheriff's office wouldn't tell us how Deleon was disciplined, citing his current appeal. This violation happened under the previous administration. Deleon's attorney, Joshua Normand, declined to comment but tells Eyewitness News they are awaiting a date for Deleon's appeal.
"To see him wrapped up in this again and to hear he's going to appeal, there's no way. He shouldn't appeal. He shouldn't be on the force. Period," Erwin said.
