• 24
  • August
    2010

In recent criminal law news, a judge in Dallas County has dismissed a host of drug charges against a convicted felon with a substantial criminal history. The reason? He did not believe that the officer in charge of the investigation was truthful in his sworn testimony.

The case in question involves Dennis Morrow, a Garland narcotics officer, and Patrick Woodard, a convicted felon and subject of the drug investigation at issue. According to police reports, Morrow was working undercover to build a case against Woodard, who he believed was selling drugs.

Morrow eventually arrested Woodard and later testified during an extensive pretrial hearing that 1.) he used a phone number provided by a confidential informant (CI) to arrange a drug buy from Woodard and 2.) that Woodard had an open bag of plainly visible narcotics in his car at the time of his arrest.

However, at the same pretrial hearing, Woodard testified that the bag of drugs was closed and not plainly visible. In addition, defense attorneys called other Garland police officers to the stand who testified that Morrow had distorted the facts in a previous drug arrest and that the testimonial inaccuracies were not uncommon. 

The presiding judge, the Hon. Pat McDowell, indicated in his final order that credibility issues were resolved in favor of the defendant and that the "contraband" (a.k.a. drugs) was not in plain view. The drug charges against Woodard were subsequently dismissed.

The absence of any phone records indicating that Morrow had received a call from a CI was found to be a decisive factor by the judge.

"I found his [Morrow's] testimony not as credible as the defendant's testimony given the big picture of the telephone records and the other information developed during the hearing," said McDowell in a post-ruling interview.

Morrow has been transferred to another division in the Garland Police Department and is not being called as a witness by the Dallas County District Attorney's Office. In fact, prosecutors recently moved to dismiss weapons charges in another case where Morrow would have provided the bulk of the testimony.

It remains to be seen whether Dallas County actually places Morrow on the list of police officers not be called upon to provide testimony.

"This is a very serious matter. With an open mind, we are going to be thorough and diligent in our review of these cases as we evaluate the impact of the judge's ruling," said Jamille Bradfield, spokesperson for the D.A.'s office.

Related Resources:

• Judge's Finding on Testimony in Drug Case Puts Garland Officer Under Scrutiny (Dallas Morning News)