HOUSTON COUNTY, Ga. — A Warner Robins police officer destroyed evidence in 142 cases due to an outdated cataloging system and a lack of proper protocols and procedures in place, according to an internal report from the Warner Robins Police Department.
But, the Houston District Attorney's Office wasn't aware until it requested information from an audit on the status of those cases.
According to an internal investigation from 2023 and Police Chief Wayne Fisher, the correct manner of disposing evidence is to check the status of its case through the department's cataloging system, then notify the DA's office and wait until they send a disposal letter of approval before taking any action.
However, records show Sgt. Brad Mules improperly disposed evidence in 63 active cases.
The records also say prosecutors "nolle prossed" or dismissed at least seven cases as "a direct result" of the evidence destroyed by Mules.
The 2023 internal investigation at the Warner Robins Police Department breaks down the event that led to the disposal of evidence in over 140 cases. It also explains why the District Attorney threatened to prosecute a different officer after making critical Facebook comments against him during the sheriff's race.
WHAT HAPPENED
On a Friday night in March, the Houston County District Attorney sent a text to the Warner Robins Police Chief with screenshots of Facebook comments criticizing him.
13WMAZ reported in April that Chief Wayne Fisher said the District Attorney Will Kendall threatened to prosecute his officer for "a mistake" made in the past, only after the critical comments were made.
Records show the "mistake" the DA was referring to involved Capt. John Clay — the officer who criticized Kendall in Facebook comments — since he was the supervisor of Mules.
"From his perspective, there could've been a charge made for violation of oath of office due to malfeasance, but he chose to allow us to resolve it internally because he saw there was no criminal intent for this issue to have taken place," Chief Fisher said.
During Kendall's discussion with Chief Fisher in March, the city's complaint states the DA told Fisher he was prepared to respond and defend his role.
Kendall argued Clay caused problems that hurt the justice system of Houston County as a result of the actions of his subordinate, Mules.
"I don't condone what the officer [Mules] did," Fisher said. "He was held accountable for that."
Chief Fisher said it was "a mistake" and they disciplined Mules with an 8-day suspension.
Most of the evidence Mules "destroyed by incineration" were drugs, like marijuana, meth, heroin, crack cocaine and pills.
He also threw away drug paraphernalia, like pipes, grinders, weighing scales, as well as objects like plastic bags, ammunition, and CDS.
The records show Mules also destroyed notes from the DA on the status of cases.
According to the internal investigation, Mules said he based his decisions to get rid of evidence on a software that tracked cases through court. However, the documents show Kendall said Mules never got approval from his office and damaged dozens of cases that were still pending.
Fisher blames a lack of proper procedures and protocols along with an outdated cataloging software.
"There was a shortcut taken, if you will, on some matters," Fisher said. "But, it was also identified that there was some internal issues within the policy that needed to be more fine-tuned."
According to the investigative report, Mules said he was unclear on the rules because he was never properly trained in disposing of evidence.
As Mules' supervisor, Clay was under fire this past April after the DA called the Chief to complain about critical Facebook comments against him in the sheriff's race.
DA Kendall called Clay "inept in his abilities and duties as commander," which caused problems in the Houston County justice system, people's jobs and people's cases.
Fisher said Clay wasn't disciplined because he wasn't directly involved with destroying evidence.
However, Interim Chief Roy Whitehead "verbally counseled" Clay about the problem.
When Chief Fisher spoke to Kendall about it in 2023, he said the DA did not proceed with a violation of oath of office charge because he determined "there was no criminal intent."
13WMAZ reached out to DA Kendall several times about this story, but he said he was unable to interview with us.