What in the world is going on at the Aurora Police Department?
Increasingly troubling allegations of investigatory skullduggery came to light this past week in what seemed like an open-and-shut traffic homicide case.
We’re talking about the trial of Francis Hernandez, who is accused of causing a horrendous crash in 2008 that killed three people, including a small child in an Aurora ice cream parlor.
The evidence against Hernandez, who has a lengthy criminal history and is in the country illegally, seemed so strong. His blood was on the driver’s side airbag. Witnesses said they saw a man matching the description of Hernandez fleeing from the accident scene.
Then, cracks began to appear in the case — cracks that emanated from the actions of investigators who worked the crime.
First, we learned that an Aurora police officer who interviewed Hernandez after the crash did not turn over his notes to the court. In those notes was a previously undisclosed statement from Hernandez in which the suspect said: “I’ll take the blame.”
Then came testimony that Detective Johnny Lee, the lead investigator in the case, who said he accidentally deleted the original arrest affidavit from the police computer system days after the crash, but later replicated it exactly. Suspicious, to say the least.
In a stunning admission, Lee also testified that he provided inaccurate evidence about the number of people reportedly in the SUV that authorities say caused the accident.
The arrest affidavit said witnesses reported only one person in the SUV. It turns out one witness said he saw two people in the vehicle.
This is a blow to the prosecution’s case because it bolsters the defense’s contention that the other person in the vehicle, Hernandez’s cousin, could have been driving.
Why would the detective do such a thing? Why not find the cousin and do the police work necessary to prove which of the two men was driving the SUV that reached speeds of 70 or 80 mph?
If the defense can cause the jury to sufficiently doubt the case, perhaps even believe the cousin was driving, they could acquit Hernandez.
That could end the case since the state cannot try Hernandez twice on the same charges. And the cousin was murdered last summer, so even if the cousin was driving there is no one to prosecute.
What a mess.
The Aurora Police Department reportedly is conducting an internal investigation of the situation, and well it should.
The actions by officers who handled this case merit a full review. The police department’s credibility is on the line, and it is imperative the department publicly own up to any and all errors. Their credibility could affect future cases, as well.
It could be ugly, but the best disinfectant is sunlight. If wrongdoing is confirmed, the department cannot quietly accept officers of the law who callously disregard their obligation to seek the truth.
