IAPE Evidence Blog

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By KENNETH DEAN, Staff Writer
Link to Article

Van Zandt County, TX

Miss­ing evi­dence inside a locker at the Van Zandt County Sheriff’s Office has resulted in an ongo­ing inves­ti­ga­tion and the arrest of a for­mer deputy.

Van Zandt County Dis­trict Attor­ney Chris Mar­tin said the inves­ti­ga­tion into Donna Still was ini­ti­ated when his First Assis­tant Dis­trict Attor­ney Richard Schmidt was hav­ing a con­ver­sa­tion with an indi­vid­ual and learned of pos­si­ble miss­ing evidence.

“We’re still inves­ti­gat­ing, but we found mul­ti­ple pieces of evi­dence in a home she used to live in that she would have had access to in her posi­tion as the evi­dence clerk with the sheriff’s office,” he said. “The evi­dence had been in her possession.”

Mar­tin said the for­mer deputy Still was arrested Wednes­day for tam­per­ing with phys­i­cal evi­dence and bond was set at $25,000.

Still made bond Wednes­day night and has been released, but offi­cials said as the inves­ti­ga­tion unfolds there could be addi­tional charges against Still.

Mar­tin said at this time his office does not have any infor­ma­tion that any­one else was involved, but they are look­ing at all possibilities.

He said Still joined the sheriff’s office in 2006 as a patrol deputy and worked as the evi­dence clerk from 2007 to 2008 before she left the department.

Mar­tin said he did not know if any cases would be affected by the discovery.

“We have yet to deter­mine if it is going to have any bear­ing on any cases, but it sure will call some into ques­tion,” he said.

Mar­tin said offi­cers are called to uphold the law, and those com­mit­ting crimes have to held accountable.

“It’s about hold­ing not only law enforce­ment, but any indi­vid­ual respon­si­ble for crimes they may have com­mit­ted,” he said.

Tyler Paper is con­tin­u­ing to fol­low this story and will have addi­tional details as they become available.

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Inter­na­tional Asso­ci­a­tion for Prop­erty and Evi­dence
“Law Enforce­ment Serv­ing the Needs of Law Enforce­ment”
www.IAPE.org