Prosper Police Examine Conflicting Evidence in Teen Sex Assault Cases
PROSPER (CBSDFW.COM) - Todd Shapiro says it's been two weeks since he handed over two recorded phone conversations and a text message to the Prosper Police Department and the Collin County District Attorney. "I was hoping that by providing this information, that alone would be enough for the police to say, we made a mistake," explained Shapiro.
The Plano attorney is defending 17-year-old Darius Hunter, son of major league baseball player, Torii Hunter. Darius is accused of sexually assaulting a 16-year-old girl in an apartment in Prosper on May 4th. Four other teenage boys face similar accusations.
Shapiro says a close friend of the Hunter family recorded the two conversations and claims the alleged victim recanted her story. Shapiro continues to press investigators to drop the charges. "I provided them very clear information and very clear evidence that this did not happen," said Shapiro. For them to continue to go forward with this would be a miscarriage of justice in my opinion."
Investigators say they are weighing the evidence provided by the defense, and for the first time, Prosper police spokesman, Celso Martinez, admits that the recorded conversations do indeed conflict with what the two accusers told police in their initial statements.
Martinez says because of this conflict, investigators are re-interviewing the accusers and several other individuals with ties to the case.
In the arrest warrant, the 16-year-old girl says she was forced to perform a sexual act on Darius, while he fondled her. Martinez says investigators must now factor in the recorded phone conversations to determine who is telling the truth.
CBS 11 spoke off camera to the mother of the 16-year-old girl. She says it's going to be a long investigation and that the family will not comment until it is over.
