2 weeks Ago
The trial in Bell County’s 478th Judicial District Court was humming along earlier this week according to plan, at least as much as jury trials can. The state’s prosecutor already had read the indictment and the defendant had entered his not-guilty plea on Tuesday as soon as a jury was sworn in. On Wednesday, attorneys made their opening statements and the state began to introduce its evidence in its case against Demetrious Woods, who stood accused of using a “rope, a belt or a stick” to beat a Nolanville child in 2022, allegedly leaving marks on the child’s body.
However, by Wednesday, the trial veered off-course when the Bell County District Attorney’s Office was accused of not handing over evidence to the defense in a timely manner as required by the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure. On Thursday, the judge declared a mistrial based on violations of the Brady Rule that requires prosecutors to hand over the entirety of their evidence, and the Morton Act, a clarification of the Brady Rule that took effect in 2014. “When any defendant goes to trial, it is incumbent upon the state — in this case, the Bell County District Attorney’s Office — to provide the defense with every piece of evidence they have,” said Brett Pritchard, who represents the 39-year-old defendant.
Pritchard spoke with the Herald on Thursday. “That includes evidence that might lean toward guilty, but also exculpatory evidence. In this case, among the voluminous Child Protective Services records that the state has access to that we don’t, is a (family member) who admitted to hurting the child when Woods wasn’t even in the area.
” Pritchard said that his office had been “begging for those (CPS) records” and that the prosecutor’s office “for some reason, would not give us those records.” He said that the DA “finally” handed over the records late last week. It was during the testimony of the third witness — a Nolanville police sergeant — that the trial came to a screeching halt.
The officer participated in the department’s investigation of the child abuse allegations and wrote a 17-page offense report on April 15, 2023. The report was uploaded to the district attorney’s office’s portal on May 30, 2023, but it was filed under the name of the alleged co-conspirator. “We never received the offense report and the prosecutor told the judge that the Nolanville P.
D. had never sent them the offense report,” Pritchard said. “All hell broke loose when the officer got on the stand and was willing to stake his career and reputation on the fact that he had turned over their records to the DA’s Office.
” The two trial attorneys representing Woods raised the alarm bell over Brady and Morton Act violations. The judge’s docket entry on Wednesday indicates that the court recessed “for 50 minutes to provide both sides time to gather any necessary information.” The court excused the jury for the remainder of the day with instructions to return Thursday morning, which they did, only to be sent home.
“On his own motion, the judge declared a mistrial because he couldn’t instruct the jury to disregard what the jury had just heard, which was the officer testifying about the offense report that we never received,” Pritchard said. Bell County District Attorney Henry Garza spoke with the Herald on Friday afternoon. He emphasized that Faulkner’s own findings show that the CPS records were received by the DA’s Office on Aug.
21, and disclosed to the defense on Aug. 22. “We disclosed the records as soon as we received them and the case didn’t go to trial until Aug.
27,” Garza said. “The defense had the CPS records, which includes the offense report, prior to the commencement of trial. I’ve looked at the court’s findings of fact and conclusions of law and the judge found himself in a position where a mistrial had to be declared in fairness to all concerned.
We have to go forward from there.” Another point of contention was the apparent misfiling of the Nolanville officer’s report. “Every law enforcement agency that presents a case uploads their original information to us and we retain an electronic copy,” Garza said.
“In this instance, the law enforcement agency did not link that offense report with this case that was at trial.” The Herald asked Garza what could be improved in the process. “We should have had that report sooner, even if it was filed under someone else’s name, but that didn’t happen,” he said.
“We’ll be looking at ways to make certain that law enforcement agencies are complying with the requirements to disclose all information that might be relevant to a case that’s being presented. I want to prevent this from occurring in the future.” So, what will happen next regarding the charges against Woods? Pritchard said that his office would be filing a motion to dismiss.
“And then the fight will be on,” he said. Garza said that the case is still pending before the court: “This case isn’t over with yet.” Woods was indicted on March 15, 2023, on two third-degree felony charges of injury to a child with intentional bodily injury.
Woods posted a bond of $30,000, on Dec. 28, 2022, and was released from law enforcement custody, according to court and jail records. Arrest affidavits were not available, but two indictments allege that on March 1, 2022, in Nolanville, Woods “intentionally and knowingly caused bodily injury” to two children who were 14 years of age or younger.
The DA’s Office is trying the two abuse cases one at a time..
