Harris County DA wants to catch cases with 'insufficient evidence' earlier in his office

HARRIS COUNTY, Texas (KTRK) -- This week, four men facing murder charges in Harris County learned their cases were dropped for insufficient evidence.

Todd Ward represented a man who was 18 years old when he got into a physical fight with his uncle, 51-year-old James Glover, on Washington Avenue in July of 2021. His uncle died, and the teen was charged with murder.

Ward said his client, who had no criminal record, spent days in jail and was later released with a GPS ankle monitor.

Ward said his client claimed self-defense when it happened, and Ward believes the evidence supports that.

"Until we're set for trial, we're coming up a month, (prosecutors) coming in looking at it, and they start looking at their file and realizing what I've been telling them," Ward said.

The district attorney's office dismissed the case three days before trial.

"For my client, he's free and I'm happy for that," Ward said with emotion in his voice.

He said the case has taken an emotional toll on his client, who has since moved out of state and completed the first year of his degree in electrical engineering.

"Just waking up every day, thinking about, 'I may spend the rest of my life in prison,' that stress is a lot for anyone," Ward said.

Stanley Schneider's client was 17 years old when he was charged with murdering 43-year-old Juan Banda Reyes on the Pierce Elevated in May of 2023.

He said his client admitted to killing the man but said he did it in fear of his life.

"You have a 17-year-old with a gun shooting somebody and then running them over. On the surface, you know, this is a road rage," Schneider said.

He explained that the charge was life-changing for his client, and he was subject to house arrest after bonding out of jail.

"He was thrown out of school," Schneider said. "He couldn't go to school. He couldn't go to church."

Schneider said he was sent a motion to dismiss the case filed by the prosecutor the night before jury selection in the trial.

Both Ward and Schneider agreed that they believe that prosecutors are overworked and do not have the opportunity to delve into the case until the trial gets closer.

"When you're dealing with a murder, and you have a dead body, no one wants to make that decision," Schneider said. "It's hard for them to make that decision if it's a bad case, but that happens all the time."

Newly-elected District Attorney Sean Teare said they are encouraging their prosecutors to speak to the division chiefs sooner rather than later when they have a case that they do not believe they can prove.

"It's a process," Teare said. "(Division chiefs) question (prosecutors). They walk through, 'Have you tried this?' 'Have you looked at that?' and everyone agrees in that group."

Teare said he hopes his office starts catching cases with problems earlier, like the four that were dismissed this week, so both defendants and families of the deceased do not spend as much time waiting.

"What we're going to do is give the prosecutors the freedom and power to make those decisions earlier, and you're going to start to see the caseloads go down," Teare explained.

Neither Ward nor Schneider expects the cases against their clients to be refiled.

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READ MORE: Harris County District Attorney's Office drops 4 murder cases, citing insufficient evidence