Drug cases dropped

Brian McVeigh

Dozens of drug cases in Alabama are being dismissed, even though the defendants in some of those cases pleaded guilty.

Several district attorneys are dealing with the aftermath of evidence theft from a state forensics lab.  It began April 1 when Hoover police arrested Brandi Hicks.

She worked as an evidence technician for the department of forensic science, and during her nine months at the hoover lab, handled evidence in hundreds of cases.  Heroin, cocaine, and prescription drugs are missing from some of that evidence, and Hicks is charged with trafficking and theft.

Calhoun Cleburne District Attorney Brian McVeigh, said he learned this week which cases are compromised.  He requested the dismissal of three cases.  One was still pending, but the suspects in the other two pleaded guilty.  A woman sentenced to probation will have a possession charge removed from her record.  Jeffrey Borrelli's seven year sentence for cocaine trafficking will be dismissed, although he remains behind bars for robbery.

Jimmie Harp

There are more than 200 cases in McVeigh's district where Brandi Hicks had some involvement in the evidence chain of custody.  The district attorney said he will work with presiding judge Brian Howell to provide the complete list to the defense bar association for review.

He expects defense attorneys to begin filing motions questioning the chain of custody.

Etowah County district attorney Jimmie Harp said it appears Hicks was part of the chain of custody in 44 cases from his office.  Like McVeigh, he will also be dismissing three cases.

One involves drug distribution and the other two are possession crimes.  None of them has gone to trial yet.

Harp said a typical narcotics possession case may have 10 or 12 people in the chain of custody, with each step documented. 

The east Alabama district attorneys said it appears Hicks likely touched many evidence bags without having any direct contact with what was inside.  However, since evidence is missing from some of their cases, there are additional concerns.

McVeigh said most of what Hicks handled was drug evidence, but there was a period of time where she was working in "a front desk type area where things were coming in", and that could be any piece of evidence that went into the lab including DNA and rape kits.  While drugs are what they know is missing, his staff is reviewing all their cases.