Sheriff's deputy misplaces evidence, case thrown out by judge

A breaking and entering case was thrown out by a superior court judge in Pasquotank County this week because of missing evidence.

July 14, 2016

ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. (WVEC) – A breaking and entering case was thrown out by a superior court judge in Pasquotank County this week because of missing evidence.

The trial for a man charged with breaking into an Elizabeth City home was supposed to start Monday. But after the jury was picked, the judge dismissed the case, citing dozens of missing photos that were supposed to be entered into evidence.

The victim, John Duvall walked out of the courtroom in tears, saying the investigator lost dozens of pictures that captured the crime as it unfolded.

Duvall says the crime dates back to Thanksgiving day, almost three years ago.

"We walked around back and noticed the back door was busted in. I went inside and all the copper wire down the hall was pulled out of the ceiling. The house was trashed -- all our personal belongings and furniture was missing, he said.

Duvall was in the middle of renovating his home when someone kept breaking in when he wasn't there.

"Came back the next day and things were missing again. The BMW had the trunk pried open. We looked inside and all the copper wire was missing out of the car. We called the police again and we went back in the house and the hardwood flooring was pulled up and the kitchen cabinets were taken," he said.

Shortly after John set up a camera, hoping to catch the man in the act. He says the camera captured him going into the house on a number of different occasions.

"It showed him walking around in the back of the house with an empty military bag and then coming back and the bag was full of, I'm assuming copper wire. He was dragging it-- it was so heavy," he said.

John handed over dozens of pictures and an SD card with more than 60 photos to the Pasquotank County Sheriff's Office. The suspect was eventually arrested on Jan. 2, 2014.

A grand jury indicted him on breaking and entering charges and the trial was scheduled to begin on Monday.

"They were reading off to the judge what they had—the defense attorney wanted to throw out the two pictures because he said that's not enough to say he was in the house or in the car stealing anything," John said.

That's when John's ears perked up. What happened to the other photos?

"Only the detective had those -- the district attorney, she didn't have any of that evidence at all. She didn't even know about it. So she was caught off guard, but they had already picked out a jury and everything," he said.

John says the arresting deputy eventually admitted he lost the other photos.

"He said, 'Well it's on me. I lost those photos and I just don't know where they are at.' He said he had the jump drive in his pocket and it must've fallen out of a cut," John said.

John says the judge then dismissed the case, telling the defendant that he dodged a bullet, and reprimanding the deputy for sloppy, careless work. John walked out of the courthouse devastated.

"The damage he did to the house is like $40,000, and all the money I put in the house is gone now. The defendant kept smirking at me and that made me really upset."

Furious the case was dismissed because of a careless error on the part of the sheriff's office, John Duvall turned to 13News Now for help.

We contacted the District Attorney and The Sheriff about the case, and in another surprising turn, Sheriff Randy Cartwright called 13News Now reporter Jemie Lee the next day, saying he found the photos.

Cartwright says the photos were on the deputy's old computer, and for some reason they never transferred over to his new computer.

District Attorney Andrew Womble says there can't be a retrial on the charges that were already dismissed, but now that the sheriff has new evidence, there is the possibility of a retrial on new charges.

Sheriff Cartwright says he is conducting an internal investigation into what happened. He says what happened in this case is not at all how his department operates.

The Duvall family is still struggling to get back on their feet. A GoFundMe page has been set up for donations.

http://www.13newsnow.com/news/local/north-carolina/case-dismissed-because-of-evidence-misplaced-by-sheriffs-deputy/273298364