Former Galveston PD SWAT officer gets new trial due to prosecutorial misconduct

GALVESTON, Texas - Former Galveston cop Justin Popovich is seen in a video playing with his daughters. He has a baby daughter he hasn’t even met because he’s been in jail in solitary confinement for almost a year for violating his bond conditions.

He’s charged with continuous family violence and stalking.

"It’s been tough, it really has," said Justin’s father David Popovich. "We all know this is a crock of you know what."
After days of testimony, the prosecutor showed the jury pictures of supposed abuse to the victim, referred in court as Jane Doe. 

Those pictures were six years old and that led to a mistrial.

"The state just mislead the court, showed these to the jury. I had no choice but to ask for a mistrial, they were just too prejudicial," said Popovich’s attorney Julie Ketterman.

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In a hearing, the prosecutor said it was a mistake. But Ketterman said the prosecutor did it on purpose because the state was losing.

"When you are trying to put a man in prison for 10 years, which is what they are trying to do to Justin Popovich, then you don’t get a whoops," she said.

According to Ketterman, the state wants Popovich sent to prison because his ex-Jane Doe, is a former city employee with close ties to the Galveston City Manager and Police Chief.

"In the last 22 years I’ve been practicing law, this is the most incestuous case I’ve ever seen," Ketterman said.

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She believes trying Popovich again is double jeopardy.

If the judge ruled it’s not Popovich’s second, his trial is expected to start later this week