"Deep in the Heart of...Injustice" - Part IV: The Evidence (Physical)

As we continue on with the physical evidence, I’d like to go ahead and post a link to Darlie’s petition. I have found two links, but they are both for her petition for a new trial. You only need to sign one, but I want to make sure I give every opportunity. Click either Petition1 or Petition2 to sign her petition.
This petition has nothing to do with whether you believe she‘s guilty, it’s about the errors in the investigation and trial. My sole purpose for asking that you sign this petition is to gain a new trial for Darlie Routier. The case was seriously mishandled, and justice needs to be served. Even is you believe she committed this horrible crime, don’t you want to be absolutely positive if she is to be put to death? The whole issue boils down to this: DEATH IS DIFFERENT! This case needs to be re-tried if justice is to be served.
Now, let’s continue on with the physical evidence. I have been struggling with how I want to do this, and I hope it makes sense when I’m done. I really want to cover everything as thoroughly as I can without having been there. Most of the evidence will come in again when I review the ‘Trial Error’. During this time, I’d like to deal with the evidence and how it was used, or not used during trial. Some errors may come to light during this stage, but only the errors that need to be disclosed. For the most part, I’d like to look at the evidence as the jury most likely saw it. I’ll try my best.
I want to start with the most obvious: the ‘Silly String’ tape. The footage was obtained by ’bugging’ the grave of Damon and Devon Routier, the murder victims. As far as I’m concerned, the whole situation is appalling. I understand why the jury came to the conclusion it did, but the State should be ashamed. Anyone who’s heard about this case, knows about “The Silly String Graveside Party”. It shows Darlie and the family having a birthday party at the boys’ freshly dug graves, laughing and spraying the party favor as though it was a normal party. Given what the jury saw, I completely understand the shock. I have to admit, when I first saw this video, I was infuriated. How could a ‘grieving’ mother possibly act like this? I accepted that she was where she belonged, and should stay there. The video portrayed Darlie exactly the way Prosecutor Greg Davis wanted her to be viewed. He ignited the ‘hatred’ that jurors would have for such a ‘self-centered’ mother. I did, however, have questions as to why this video was even admitted into trial. No court order was ever obtained for this ‘bug’. Police did NOT have permission from the cemetery owner to come on the property, nor did they have permission from Darin or Darlie Routier (who owned the grave site). Besides, the illegalities, this video only showed part of what took place that day.
The police were recording another movie from the parking lot; once again, illegally. This tape showed a tearful, heartbroken mother having a graveside memorial service. It was prior to the ’party’, and Darlie was so grief-stricken, she couldn’t even maintain her composure. They gathered, hugged, loved and CRIED; everything you would expect from a grieving parent. The judge deemed this tape inadmissible because it was recorded illegally. REALLY?! How convenient for the prosecution! *Note: The jury obviously wasn’t aware the ‘Silly String’ tape had been recorded illegally, nor did they know there was a second, illegal recording.
In an interview, Darlie defended the birthday party. When asked why she did it, Darlie said it was for the children. She said, “It was a gesture of love for my boys and it was a way to help ease the minds of their little friends who were in pain. I wanted them to see Devon and Damon as being happy in Heaven. It doesn’t make sense to kids if you tell them how great Heaven is and then sob with grief. It barely makes sense to adults. This was a celebration of Devon’s life -- not his death. It made sense at the time. I just wish the jury could have seen the rest of the tape. Then maybe they would have understood.” I had never thought of this, but it is a very good point. As a child, how can people going to Heaven be a good thing if it causes everyone else so much pain?
Once I researched, and learned about this other video, I felt horrible for condemning a human being based on half-fact. I do feel, without a doubt, that this tape is what convicted Darlie. None of it should have been allowed in court, but it disgusts me that Greg Davis could sleep at night knowing he convicted a woman by omitting evidence that could have, and probably would have freed her. And this is just one piece. I was always taught to respect the ‘justice’ system, but I’ve come to realize, there’s also an ‘injustice’ system. We really need to do something about the latter.
Let’s now move on to the State’s theory that the scene was staged. The first thing police noticed is that Darlie’s jewelry and purse were on the counter, in clear view. They wondered why these things would be left if this was a burglary. I’ve seen a lot of cases where burglars have left with nothing when they’ve been confronted. The house was dark. Maybe whoever did this assumed the family was ‘in bed’, and not asleep on the couch and living room floor.
The scene was also considered ‘staged’ due to the lack of property damage. Only one glass from the wine rack was broken, and the vacuum was tipped over. This seemed to be the only real ‘damage’ to the house. One would assume that a struggle would cause visible damage to material belongings, as well as bodily damage to a person.
To be honest, I found this a little strange myself. A wine rack is not very sturdy, so one would think many things would be broken. I did think of the possibility that maybe this happened before Darlie struggled with ‘the intruder’, possibly after ‘he’ attacked the boys. If one simply backed into a wine rack, it is very possible that only one glass would be broken. Could this ‘breaking glass’ have happened while Darlie was waking. To know any more, one would really have to know the extent of the struggle.
The vacuum is also strange. It appeared to just be ‘laid’ over, not tipped in a struggle. The blood seemed to be on the floor underneath the vacuum. If it had been knocked over in the struggle, one would expect to find blood ‘on’ the vacuum. Though this bothers me, if this is the only ‘solid’ evidence the State has, it’s pretty sad. After all, Darlie never mentioned either of these things. Why would a person stage a crime scene if they didn’t plan on using it in some way?
Finally, I want to look at the State’s position on the cut screen and the mulch outside the window of entry. According to them, the screen was cut from the inside, and the mulch outside the window was completely undisturbed. It was the State’s position that an intruder could not have possibly done this. I really haven’t found anything that I can use to defend the State on this one. Actually, this part made me laugh at them a little, especially since they were proven wrong in court.
First, the screen… Police actually made press releases and sworn statements that the screen was cut from the inside. Really? I don’t feel any of these officers were qualified to make that sort of statement. Reporting their feelings in their report is one thing; going to the media and doing a press release based on ‘personal feelings’ is something completely different,. These officers were WRONG! It was proven in court that the screen was, indeed, cut from the outside. Officers made deceptive statements, AND gave those statements to the media. Darlie never stood a chance. I try very hard to show a great deal of respect for police officers; I plan to go into law enforcement, myself. However, officers like these, make me question people put in that position.
Now, the mulch… This really makes me laugh at law enforcement and cry for Darlie. I heard A LOT about this ‘undisturbed’ mulch when I first heard about this case. I wondered how an intruder could get in and not show any signs; then I saw the house, and heard Lloyd Harrell explain. He was the investigator for the defense team. The window of entry had absolutely NO MULCH to disturb; it was concrete. How could an intruder disturb the mulch when there was none there to disturb? Now, you understand my laughter. This really should be quite obvious to anyone looking at the house. How can there be such an issue over mulch that doesn’t even exist?
These are a few of the issues I want to go over. I hope to start, next time, on DNA type evidence. I’m still organizing my thoughts, since that’s always a critical topic, but I wanted to get you started with some of the other issues.
Once again, I want to encourage you to click on one of the links above to sign Darlie’s petition for a new trial. Even if you really believe she’s guilty, make the State do the right thing. If she did it, their evidence will prove it. We can not let a human being be executed based on half-truths and lies. If we don’t want to be part of the problem, we must DO something to fix the problem. The Texas court system is known, nationally, as one of the least likely court systems to find and correct errors in capital cases. This must be changed. If a State makes a mistake, they must fix it. Plain and simple.