Harris County District Attorney's Office

District Attorney Patricia Lykos

January 30, 2009

Public Information Office

Donna M. Hawkins

George Flynn

(713) 755-3320

Indictment Obtained for Technical Supervisor Charged with Tampering

(Houston, TX) Harris County District Attorney Pat Lykos announced today that the 338th Grand Jury has issued an indictment against Deetrice H. Wallace for the felony criminal offense of Tampering with a Governmental Record.

The Texas Department of Public Safety reports that Wallace was hired in 1996 as an independent contractor responsible for maintaining and certifying instruments for several local police departments, including those in Clute, Friendswood, Galveston, League City, Pearland, Seabrook, South Houston, and Webster.

Wallace was certified by the Texas Department of Public Safety as a Technical Supervisor and was responsible for maintaining and testing intoxilyzer instruments. The Tampering with a Governmental Record charge arises from reports of false inspections of DPS owned intoxilyzer instruments which are used in cases where a driver is suspected of driving while intoxicated through the introduction of alcohol into the body. The instrument measures the alcohol concentration in a person's breath.

Tampering with a Governmental Record is a state jail felony punishable up to two years in a state jail and up to a $10,000 fine.

The Harris County District Attorney's Office is in the process of examining thousands of cases to determine if Wallace had any involvement in them.

District Attorney Pat Lykos states, "Our duty and responsibility to the public is to ensure that justice is done. Thousands of cases are being re-examined to determine if tainted or unreliable evidence led to the arrest or conviction of suspects. Cases will be thoroughly reviewed to determine their proper disposition. We are working very diligently to ensure that only lawful evidence is introduced in court."

Identifying these cases may take weeks, but Lykos vows that her staff will collect the evidence as quickly as possible and take the appropriate action.

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Last Updated: 1/30/2009