Judge injected himself into investigation in Bell case
Over the past few months I blogged about a Texas judge who signed a search warrant for defense attorney Keith Gore's office, bypassing a hearing that had been scheduled to determine whether the prosecution was entitled to evidence in a pending murder case or whether it was protected by attorney client privilege. Collin County District Judge Mark Rusch was subsequently recused from the case.
NBC5i.com reported that not only did Judge Rusch give the search warrant to prosecutors, pre-empting the hearing, but that the seized materials were then taken to the judge's home, where detectives say the judge not only reviewed the letters seized from attorney Gore's office, but also cut bar-coded tape to open a box, thereby placing himself in the chain of custody and potentially opening himself up to claims of evidence tampering:
According to court documents, the evidence seized from Gore's office was taken to Rusch's home instead of a crime lab.A witness for Rusch acknowledged the judge inspected letters and documents and handled the box, but said the judge did not unseal the box.
But Frisco detectives said Rusch unsealed the box, which was closed with bar-coded tape, using a knife.
Hagen said the handling of evidence raises major chain of custody issues and directly implicates the judge in the investigation of Bell.
Those issues and information prosecutors may have learned about the case during the raid could lead to a dismissal of the charges against Bell, Hagen said.
"When you're talking about trying to stick a needle in their arm and kill a person, you better play by the rules," he said.
Video coverage is here.
Related posts:
Judge signs search warrant for attorney's files
50 lawyers showed up to support Texas lawyer whose office was searched by police
Judge who signed search warrants for attorney's office recused from murder case
Another attorney's office raided
Criminal defense lawyer's office searched in New Jersey
