Recently a client from California was charged with a very serious crime. Over a decade ago, he left his girlfriend to live with family in California. Since that time, he had been living and working with little or no contact with his ex-girlfriend. Unbeknownst to him and shortly after moving away, his girlfriend’s daughter made serious sexual allegations against him. Aside from taking a police report and issuing a warrant, the local police department did nothing to try and find him. They never followed up with the family or the child. They did not look for any leads as to my client’s whereabouts or made any effort to locate him.
By the time he was arrested, much of the evidence that could have exonerated him had been destroyed. The child’s medical records no longer existed as her clinic closed. Her school had also closed and those records no longer existed. The place where she received counseling had been shut and those records were destroyed. Even the Children and Youth investigation records and police records had been destroyed due to closures over the last 10 years. My client was in a very difficult position of facing a trial where it was his word against his accuser. All the evidence that could have been used to exonerate him had been destroyed. Through no fault of his own, the evidence that could clear his name was gone. Ten years had passed and the police had done nothing. (more…)
