DA dismisses dozens of cases involving cop

The Galveston County District Attorney’s Office has dismissed dozens of cases involving a Friendswood police officer who admitted in an internal investigation years ago that she conducted traffic stops without probable cause.

Prosecutors reviewed cases in which Officer Sara Carter made an arrest and dismissed roughly three dozen of them after finding insufficient evidence to proceed with criminal charges, said Kevin Petroff, first assistant district attorney.

A 2017 internal investigation into the officer’s alleged conduct violations was first brought to light months ago by a defense attorney defending a man accused of drunken driving who was arrested by Carter.

The attorney, Dan Krieger, said he obtained the report through an open records request and notified the district attorney’s office. Prosecutors were concerned enough about the contents of the report that they evaluated the officer’s cases and notified defense attorneys working on scores of others involving the officer, Petroff said.

Krieger gave the district attorney’s office the internal complaint on March 31, he said.

The police department notified prosecutors about the same internal investigation on April 5, Petroff said.

The report includes a complaint filed in July 2017 by a Friendswood police sergeant who accused Carter of policy violations. Some officers were reluctant to get involved in traffic stops made by Carter because she made comments about pulling over certain vehicles without a reason, the sergeant wrote in the complaint.

For example, Carter told a driver that she pulled him over

because the license plate did not match the car. However, the officer did not try to confirm any information about the vehicle or its license plates during the stop, according to the report. When another officer found out that the driver’s registration was valid and questioned Carter, she told him that she had actually pulled the driver over for speeding.

During a conversation with the sergeant, Carter admitted she conducted roughly 20 traffic stops without probable cause, according to the report.

The complaint was sent to Carter’s supervisor and the department’s internal affairs unit. Thirteen days later, the department exonerated Carter and ordered no discipline or training, according to the report.

The Friendswood Police Department did not return a call seeking comment.

“They did determine that she had reasonable suspicion for making the stops that were at issue,” said Brian Begle, a Texas attorney hired this week by Friendswood to review the situation.

Carter, who was hired by the department in March 2014, was placed on administrative leave last Thursday after the judge presiding over the trial of the drunken driving case raised issues with the officer’s credibility, Begle said.

A Galveston County judge on Thursday granted a directed verdict acquitting the defendant after determining that Carter was not reliable or credible, Krieger said.

Begle said the city is waiting to review a transcript of Carter’s testimony to determine if she violated any policies or made any inappropriate statements.

Krieger said he thinks it is concerning that Friendswood police did not disclose the information contained in the complaint against Carter for nearly four years.

“I think we’d still be in the dark on this issue,” he said.