Items missing in rape case

The Baltimore Sun

Crucial evidence in the rape case of a city police officer accused of assaulting a teenager last year is missing from the Baltimore Police Department's evidence control unit.

Officer William D. Welch's trial on charges of second-degree rape and misconduct in office is scheduled to begin in three weeks in Baltimore Circuit Court. But for more than two months, police have been unable to locate the confiscated clothing of Welch and the 16-year-old girl he is accused of assaulting inside a police station house, said Welch's defense attorney, Warren A. Brown.

Other items, including the rape kit and discarded wipes that a DNA analysis showed to contain genetic material from Welch and the girl, are missing, too, according to a source who is not permitted to talk publicly about the investigation.

The defense attorney said he plans to ask a judge to rule inadmissible the DNA evidence that came from the now-missing items. Prosecutors said they are confident they still have a "viable case."

Welch, 41 years old and a 13-year department veteran, has been suspended with pay since the teenager's allegation came to light last July. She had been taken to the Southeastern District after being picked up by city officers on a Baltimore County open warrant for prostitution.

Alone with her inside a police interview room, according to court documents that include an account the girl gave after the alleged incident, Welch flirted with her, confronted her about marijuana he said he found in her bag and asked her to have sex. She complied but told county police about the incident when she was taken there, the documents state. The Sun does not identify those who allege sexual assault.

Investigators recovered evidence that prompted Police Commissioner Leonard D. Hamm to hold a news conference announcing the case against Welch even before he was formally charged.

Prosecuting and defense attorneys became aware of the evidence problem shortly before a trial date set for earlier this year. At a May 15 hearing, Assistant State's Attorney Temmi Rollock told Circuit Judge John M. Glynn, "there is some evidence that needs to be located."

"Apparently evidence control has misplaced some of the evidence," Rollock told the judge. Glynn called the situation "depressing" and ordered the lawyers to reschedule the trial. The new date is Aug. 6.

Since that hearing, however, there has been no sign of the evidence.

Police spokesman Matt Jablow said the department is investigating the situation internally. He declined to comment further.

The evidence control unit is housed in the basement of police headquarters, just blocks from the Circuit Court. Items are stored in the locked facility until they are needed for trial. Major Steven Lukasik oversees the property section, which includes evidence control. He could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Brown called the missing evidence "a blunder."

"I am not reading anything sinister into it," he said. "I have been around long enough to have heard accounts where evidence was lost or misplaced. It happens."

Still, he said he would be making a motion at the start of trial to rule the DNA evidence inadmissible.

Prosecutors will move forward on Aug. 6, using witness testimony and all available evidence, said Margaret T. Burns, spokeswoman for the Baltimore State's Attorney's Office.

The evidence that remains is now locked in the money vault of evidence control, an area that very few people can access, the source said.

A review of the public court folder yesterday showed a potentially damning case against Welch - including DNA evidence from clothing and discarded wipes, and a taped statement from the girl.

DNA analysis showed that genetic material consistent with Welch and the teenager was found on her clothing and his. Wipes that the teenager said were used by the officer after the sex act were found in a station trash can, according to court documents, and were found to contain genetic material consistent with Welch and the girl.

Shortly after she made the allegation against Welch, the girl was taken to a hospital where evidence was taken from her body in what is called a rape kit - which is now among the missing items.

To analyze DNA, genetic material is swabbed or vacuumed from clothing, body parts and other surfaces and submitted to a laboratory.

The tiny samples have not been lost, Brown said, but the items from which they came have been.

"I wanted to make sure that what [police and prosecutors] say came from the clothing actually came from it," he said. "Now we'll have to assume that the DNA really did come from the clothing and underwear and not really know for sure."

Two legal experts said yesterday that prosecutors must be able to show the court an airtight chain of custody that carefully documents the source of the DNA.

"The validity of the defense argument may turn on the reliability of the chain of custody," said Michael Millemann, a University of Maryland law professor.

julie.bykowicz@baltsun.com

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