'Drug addicted rats': How a rodent infestation is changing how Houston handles evidence

The Houston Police Department, the Harris County District Attorney's Office, and the City of Houston are teaming up to change how evidence in criminal cases is stored and processed.

The effort comes after HPD discovered a rodent infestation in their evidence property room, saying that rats were eating old marijuana.

"We first noticed it in October," said Police Chief Noè Diaz in a press conference.

"400,000 pounds of marijuana and storage and the rats are the only ones enjoying it," said Houston Mayor John Whitmire.

"Think about it, they are drug-addicted rats. They’re tough to deal with," said Peter Stout, CEO of Houston Forensic Science Center.

The remarks at the press conference make good headlines, no doubt. But, the underlying issue and the cities plan to address it, is the real story.

Officials say that there are 1.2 million pieces of evidence currently in storage with HPD. They say that literal tons of this material are no longer relevant. They say many of the narcotics and other items belong to cases that were resolved long ago.

But, they say that different laws and some lack of communication has prevented the department from destroying evidence in a timely manner. The build-up has attracted rats, mold, and fungus, according to officials.

With rats in the evidence locker where all evidence is stored, of course, there is a concern that current and new evidence could be at risk of contamination.

"Now that this has come to light, I think you're going to see a lot of pushback from the defense about the integrity of evidence used against people they represent," said Anthony Osso. Osso is a criminal defense attorney in Houston who formerly worked as a prosecutor with the Harris County District Attorney's Office.

Officials announced that they will take several steps to mitigate this issue.

"We are dedicated to fixing a problem that has been decades in the making," said District Attorney Sean Teare.

One, they say they plan to destroy all narcotics from 2015 and prior, that no longer have relevance to a case.

Next, Teare says, he has created a new senior attorney position that will act as a liaison between the district attorney and HPD to oversee evidence destruction.

Osso notes that this position will likely keep track of evidence status in cases, taking the burden off both prosecutors and HPD. "I think that's going to be really helpful," he said. 

Officials also say that all current evidence will be moved to the Houston forensic science center to be stored there instead of at the police department.

"I think its positive it it can be done efficiently," said Osso.