SOMETHING SMELLS ROTTEN IN THE STATE OF TEXAS (2)

“Something Smells Rotten in the State of Texas” (10-5-09) dealt with a veteran Texas law enforcement officer who was falsely charged with murdering a neighbor because a dog picked him out of a dog-scent lineup. Now three men who were jailed because of the dog have filed lawsuits against the Houston Police Department and the sniffer-dog's handler from the Ft. Bend County Sheriff’s Department. Two other men had previously filed lawsuits after the dog’s sniffing also sent them to jail.

Although innocent, all five were charged with crimes after having been picked out of a dog-scent lineup – two with capital murder for a triple slaying, one with rape and robbery, another with murder and the fifth with burglary.

3 HOUSTON AREA MEN FILE SUIT AFTER DOG SEND THEM TO JAIL
by Rucks Russell

khou.com
November 4, 2009

HOUSTON—Three men who say they were wrongly arrested for crimes they did not commit are suing the Houston Police Department and the Fort Bend County Sheriff’s deputy they say destroyed their lives.

“I lost my house and my cars along with my loved ones,” said Curvis Bickham, who spent several months behind bars on a capital murder charge based on a scent lineup.

Attorneys for the plaintiffs have filed a federal civil rights lawsuit on the men’s behalf. The suit seeks unspecified damages for the over-reliance by law enforcement on what the attorneys call “junk science.”

“I’m embarrassed that prosecutors will use scent lineups to win convictions and destroy people’s lives,” said Katherine Scardino, one of the attorneys representing the men.

The suit claims the scent lineups employed by Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Deputy Keith Pikett have caused irreparable harm to the men and are totally unreliable. Each of the plaintiffs served several months behind bars before having their charges dismissed. Ronald Curtis was accused of aggravated robbery.

“In my case there was a video of all the crime scenes that they could have used to prove it wasn’t me, and yet they relied on a dog scent,” said Curtis.

Deputy Pikett had no comment about the lawsuit. Representatives from the Houston Police Department referred all inquiries to the city attorney’s office.

Supporters of the lawsuit hope it leads to the elimination of scent lineups from the state of Texas.

“This is part of a campaign to restore justice to the criminal courts in the state,” according to Jeff Blackburn of the Texas Innocence Project.