District Attorney reviewing Dallas police file storage procedures
DALLAS (CBSNewsTexas.com ) — The Dallas County DA's Office is working with police to sort through thousands of uncategorized digital files that may contain important investigative information.
In a statement released Thursday, Dallas DA John Creuzot said he is engaging in "constant dialogue" with Dallas police Chief Eddie Garcia regarding the situation.
Creuzot added that his office was not made aware of the 52,000 uncategorized digital files when they were originally discovered in November 2021, but said that he has "come to understand these materials are believed to be more of an administrative nature rather than investigative" since learning of them earlier this week.
However, he continued, since there is such a high volume of documents involved, some might contain materials related to investigations. Creuzot instructed Dallas police to immediately send any information about any that might be found.
Creuzot also said that his office is working with the department to run a complete audit of the files associated with the cases Detective Christine Ramirez led or was involved with, including a case involving a Seattle woman who was allegedly stabbed to death by two women in Dallas in 2020.
In a Feb. 15 hearing, Ramirez admitted to improperly storing files associated with Nina Marano's case. Those files may have been permanently deleted, and the defense has asked for the case to be dismissed.
Marano is accused, along with her wife, Lisa Dykes, of killing Marisela Botello and allegedly attempting to destroy evidence.