Last Thursday, DA Anne Kelly, with assistance from CBI and the consenst of Sheriff Sanchez, took possession of all of the evidence being held by Costilla County Sheriff's Office connected to cases currently being investigated or has been investigated in the past.
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ALAMOSA — On Thursday afternoon, District Attorney Anne Kelly with assistance from CBI went to the Costilla County Sheriff's Office (CCSO) where she collected all the evidence in their possession related to past and current cases.
When asked how she obtained the evidence, Kelly said she wanted to be clear that she was not seizing the evidence. “They consented to me taking possession.”
Kelly did not elaborate on the specific reason that called for her taking the evidence, nor did she answer why CBI assisted her in the process.
This is not the first time Kelly has demonstrated concerns about CCSO’s practices regarding the storage, protection and/or preservation of evidence they have collected related to cases under investigation.
On July 9, Kelly appeared before the Costilla County Commissioners detailing serious concerns about conduct and operations at the Costilla County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO), and the handling of evidence was on the list.
She cited examples where narcotics and drugs that had been seized somehow disappeared. Firearms collected as evidence are said to have been lying throughout offices, on desks and cabinets. Some firearms were not booked into evidence and were not put through a police-recognized tracking system.
Physical evidence from a domestic violence case was “…simply gone. We didn’t know where it was. Then it turned up again, and we were relieved. Then it went missing again.”
Photographs of injuries taken on a suspect that could be used as exculpatory evidence are missing.
In that July meeting, Costilla County Undersheriff Cruz Soto cited actions taken by a disgruntled former employee and a lack of secure space to store evidence as the reason for the problem. Kelly acknowledged the lack of space designated for that purpose, stating “…no secure evidence property room or management software…is well below standards in the state and the nation.”
Kelly told the Valley Courier that her office will be moving into their new – and larger – location on Main Street sometime during the next week where she will allocate space dedicated to storing evidence from Costilla County, including the evidence taken from the sheriff’s office on Thursday plus other evidence collected by CCSO in the future.
