Crystal Rogers: Kentucky: (Timeline): After nearly a decade, the disappearance of Crystal Rogers may see some answers as two suspects head to trial, with jury selection under way, WAVE (Digital Content Manager Melissa Ratliff)) reports, noting that: "Crystal Rogers was last seen alive on July 3, 2015. Her then-boyfriend, Brooks Houck, is charged in her murder, as are two of his contracted employees, Joseph Lawson and his father, Steve, who was convicted last month."

PUBLISHER'S NOTE: Every once in a while, I come across a case that promises to be of interest to the readers of this Blog. As Crystal's body  has never been located, the prosecutors will have to present a largely 'circumstantial' case. However, I  may drop in from time to time, if and when  the trial takes any interesting turns.

Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog.

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BACKGROUND: (WDRB):  ANCHOR:  HAYDEN RISTEVSKI:  "A trial nearly a decade in the making starts Tuesday morning in the murder of Crystal Rogers. This time, a jury will decide whether her boyfriend at the time of her disappearance, Brooks Houck, and his alleged accomplice, Joseph Lawson, are innocent or guilty. Rogers, a 35-year-old mother of five from Bardstown, Kentucky, was last seen alive July 3, 2015. After two days of family and friends trying to reach her with no success, Rogers' mother, Sherry Ballard, filed a missing person's report July 5. During a news conference in the days after Rogers disappeared, the Nelson County Sheriff's Office said Houck — who is also the father of one of her children — was the last person to see her alive at his family farm. At the time, the sheriff said he was fulling cooperating with the investigation. But just months after Rogers vanished, Houck was named the main suspect in the case.  Now, a week before the 10th anniversary of her disappearance, he will stand trial for her murder starting Tuesday in Bowling Green, Kentucky. During the initial days of the investigation, Houck was questioned by lead detective Jon Snow with the Nelson County Sheriff's Office. "My job is to find Crystal, right? However that happens, my job is to find her. Whether I find her, hopefully alive and well and safe somewhere, or not, my job is to find her," Snow tells Houck during that interview. "If I don't find her alive and well, my job is to prosecute the person that did something. If that turns out to be you, my job is to prosecute you.  Family, friends and strangers spent countless hours looking for the missing Bardstown mom. One person was noticeably absent from the searches: Houck. "Right now, you're the main person of interest," Snow tells Houck during that 2015 interview. "Yes, that's right, and I explained to you the reason that you're the main person of interest, right, you're the last person to see her alive." Houck wasn't indicted in the case until September 2023. Prosecutors allege he conspired to kill Rogers, then worked closely with others to cover it up.  Joseph Lawson, one of Houck's alleged accomplices, will be tried at the same time at Houck. Prosecutors will try to convince a jury that Houck was involved in Rogers' murder, and that Joseph Lawson knew about it and helped Houck cover it up. Shortly after her mother reported her disappearance, Rogers' car was found abandoned on the Bluegrass Parkway with a flat tire. Her keys, purse and cellphone were still inside the car. "So I'm trying to figure out when it got on the parkway and, if I can, who was driving it on the parkway," Snow asked Houck during their 2015 interview. "Maybe she was driving it, maybe somebody else was driving it." Investigators believe Joseph Lawson moved Rogers' car and abandoned it on the Bluegrass Parkway. "I can't figure out why she would walk away from the car and leave the purse there," Snow tells Houck. "When we took the bloodhounds up there, the lady commented that it was though she wasn't even there." The case has gripped Kentucky and garnered national attention over the years. Because of the intense publicity surrounding the case, the trials were moved to Bowling Green, in Warren County. Both Houck and Joseph Lawson were transported to the county jail last week for the trial. They're charged with different crimes that carry different penalties."

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KEY FIGURES IN THE CRYSTAL ROGERS CASE:  "The main people involved in the case of the 2015 disappearance of Crystal Rogers.  Houck will be tried on charges of complicity to commit murder and tampering with physical evidence, and faces up to 25 years to life in prison. Joseph Lawson is charged with conspiracy to commit murder and tampering with physical evidence, facing up to 25 years behind bars. "Complicity to murder does require that a murder actually took place. So, with one of these defendants, the commonwealth should have to prove that there was an agreement, but doesn't need to prove that a murder occurred," Greg Simms, legal expert, said. "But with Brooks Houck, the commonwealth should be required to provide that a murder did in fact happen." While the investigation has mainly focused on Houck for the past decade, very little physical evidence has been made public, if it exists at all — including where her body is, a murder weapon or an eyewitness to the actual slaying.  It's rare in Kentucky for murder cases to make it to trial without any of this evidence, attorneys told WDRB News. Also, it's not clear how and when Rogers died and exactly what the motive was, though Houck has admitted they had a "stressful relationship." However, a substantial amount of circumstantial evidence has come out, most recently throughout the May trial of one of Houck's co-defendants, Steve Lawson, who admitted he, at Houck's request, agreed to help his son, Joseph Lawson, move Rogers' vehicle the night she vanished. Steve Lawson, 54, was tried separately on charges of conspiracy to commit murder and tampering with physical evidence. A jury found him guilty May 30, marking the first conviction in the case. The jury recommended 17 years in prison for Steve Lawson, through a judge will have the final say. A formal sentencing date is scheduled for Aug. 6 in Nelson County. Steve Lawson's trial lasted just four days. The trial involving Houck and Joseph Lawson is expected to take longer. The judge has once again banned cameras inside the courtroom during the trial. WDRB will have team coverage on air and online of the Houck/Lawson trial from the Warren County Courthouse in Bowling Green, Kentucky, beginning Tuesday, June 24. 

https://www.wdrb.com/news/nearly-a-decade-in-the-making-2nd-murder-trial-in-crystal-rogers-case-starts-tuesday/article_245173c5-3f9f-4bd4-93ef-4759802d95dc.html

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STORY: 'WAVE now: ‘The Crystal Rogers case,’ by Digital Content Manager Melissa Ratliff, published  by WAVE  on June 23, 2025;

KENTUCKY: "After nearly a decade, the disappearance of Crystal Rogers may see some answers as two suspects head to trial.

Crystal Rogers was last seen alive on July 3, 2015. Her then-boyfriend, Brooks Houck, is charged in her murder, as are two of his contracted employees, Joseph Lawson and his father, Steve, who was convicted last month.

WAVE 3’s Maira Ansari and Alena Noakes are looking back at the case’s twists and turns in this WAVE No

Here’s a timeline of the case:

July 3, 2015 – Crystal Rogers last seen alive at Houck family farm with Brooks Houck.

July 5, 2015 – Rogers’ car found on the side of the Bluegrass Parkway with a flat tire. Her keys, purse and phone were still inside. Ballard family began combining the area along the BG. Sherry Ballard reports Crystal missing after not being able to reach her. She also missed a Fourth of July Cookout

July 8, 2015 – Brooks Houck questioned by Nelson County detectives. In the middle of the interview, Bardstown Police Officer Nick Houck calls Brooks mid-interview to warn him not to cooperate.

July 15, 2015 – Nick Houck questioned by Nelson County detectives and fails his polygraph test.

Houck sits down for another interview. He denies involvement or knowing where Crystal is.

July 24, 2015 – Nick Houck questioned again by Nelson County detectives.

Late July 2015 – Law enforcement search the Houck family farm.

October 16, 2015 – Rogers presumed dead. Brooks Houck considered the main suspect.

August 2016 – Law enforcement executes another search of the Houck family farm.

November 19, 2016 – Rogers’ father, Tommy Ballard, is shot and killed on family property near Bluegrass Parkway in Bardstown. He has been an outspoken advocate for his daughter and obsessively is documenting the case and talking to people.

August 2020 – FBI takes over the case and begins to execute search warrants at multiple properties, including the Houck family farm, Brooks Houck’s home and Nick Houck’s neighborhood.

August 2021 – FBI searches the Woodlawn Spring subdivision and finds items of interest.

October 2022 – FBI searches Houck family farm again.

January 2023 – Shane Young appointed by KY Attorney General as a special prosecutor for Rogers’ case, along with Tommy Ballard and Jason Ellis.

June 21, 2023 – A grand jury indicts Joseph Lawson with conspiracy to commit murder and tampering with physical evidence.

August 15, 2023 – Joseph Lawson is arrested by KSP.

September 27, 2023 – Brooks Houck is arrested by the FBI and charged with complicity to commit murder and tampering with physical evidence.

December 6, 2023 – FBI and KSP conduct another search in Nelson County.

December 8, 2023 – Steve Lawson arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit murder and tampering with physical evidence.

September 2024 – FBI conducts a three-day search of Cox Creek at Whitesides Road.

May 27, 2025 – Steve Lawson’s trial begins in Bowling Green, Kentucky, following a successful move to separate his trial and change the venue.

May 30, 2025 – Steve Lawson found guilty on both charges. A jury recommended a sentence of 17 years.

June 24, 2025 – Brooks Houck and Joseph Lawson go to trial in Bowling Green, Kentucky."

The entire story can be read at:

https://www.wave3.com/2025/06/24/wave-now-crystal-rogers-case/

PUBLISHER'S NOTE:  I am monitoring this case/issue/resource. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic"  section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com.  Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog.

SEE BREAKDOWN OF  SOME OF THE ON-GOING INTERNATIONAL CASES (OUTSIDE OF THE CONTINENTAL USA) THAT I AM FOLLOWING ON THIS BLOG,  AT THE LINK BELOW:  HL:

https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/120008354894645705/4704913685758792985

———————————————————————————————

FINAL WORD:  (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases):  "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices."

Lawyer Radha Natarajan:

Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;

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FINAL, FINAL WORD: "Since its inception, the Innocence Project has pushed the criminal legal system to confront and correct the laws and policies that cause and contribute to wrongful convictions.   They never shied away from the hard cases — the ones involving eyewitness identifications, confessions, and bite marks. Instead, in the course of presenting scientific evidence of innocence, they've exposed the unreliability of evidence that was, for centuries, deemed untouchable." So true!

Christina Swarns: Executive Director: The Innocence Project;

————————————————————————————————----

Question of the day: Will the U.S. criminal justice system (which has enough problems already) survive the Trump Regime? For possible answers, check out the Criminal Justice Journalists' post, bearing the heading, "A New Kind of Crisis’ – Tracking Federal Effects on the Nation’s Legal System,"…"In a new report, “Tracking how the Trump administration is making the criminal legal system worse,” the Prison Policy Initiative implements its “federal tracker page,” which keeps tabs on the overall effects of this presidency on this country’s criminal legal system. “Each action has been troubling, but the true nature of the crisis is only clear when these actions are viewed together in their entirety,” the Prison Policy report notes. “On this page, we are tracking the Trump administration’s efforts to make America’s criminal legal system harsher, less effective, and even more unfair.” While the administration can’t set explicit policy that impacts state prisons, local jails, and non-federal law enforcement agencies, it is using its bully pulpit and control over federal spending to coerce state and local governments into expanding the size and brutality of their criminal legal systems."

PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am really pleased that the  'Criminal Justice Journalist's  organization has focussed on  what they call: "A New Kind of Crisis’ – Tracking Federal Effects on the Nation’s Legal System. To figure out what harmful impact may have occurred, I linked onto the U.S.  Department of Justice's Office of Legal Policy site (link below) where I got a sense of some of the areas which may be vulnerable. As Trump does not appear to be overly,  about the consequences of his Draconian cuts to those who find themselves immersed in America; criminal justice system.  this becomes an important  area of concern.  I. E. How much damage  can Trump keep to America's criminal justice system, including the vital area of forensic science which is  already under considerable pressure.

https://www.justice.gov/olp/forensic-science#:~:text=of%20Professional%20Responsibility-,About,the%20Federal%20Bureau%20of%20Investigation.

Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog; 

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PASSAGE ONE: "The Department of Justice maintains forensic laboratories at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  The Department, through the National Institute of Justice, is a sponsor of cutting-edge research.  Its labs serve as a model for government forensic agencies at the federal, state and local levels.  The Department strives to set the global standard for excellence in forensic science and to advance the practice and use of forensic science by the broader community. This website contains information of value to the forensic science community, as well as stakeholders engaged in the criminal justice system with interests in forensic science. 

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PASSAGE TWO: Priorities:   Facilitating coordination and collaboration on forensic science within the Department, across the federal government, and with state, local, and tribal entities… Increasing the capacity of forensic service providers so that evidence can be processed quickly and investigations can be concluded without delay...Improving the reliability of forensic analysis to enable examiners to report results with increased specificity and certainty.

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PASSAGE THREE:  Elon Musk’s DOGE massively cut funding and staffing at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, and the administration has proposed merging the organization into a new agency in a way that medical providers warn could seriously jeopardize access to mental health and substance use treatment. (Here are a few of them): 

1. The Department of Justice rescinded approximately $5 million in funding to the Vera Institute of Justice, which was intended for programs to improve prison conditions and mental health crisis response, among other things.
2. The Department of Justice’s Office on Violence Against Women has frozen funding for programs that provide support to victims of domestic violence.
3. The administration has eliminated 373 Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs grants to 221 organizations in 37 states across the country.-----------------------------------------

REPORT:' A New Kind of Crisis’ – Tracking Federal Effects on the Nation’s Legal System," published by Criminal Justice Journalists, on June 13,  2025. (Criminal Justice Journalists is the first national organization of journalists who cover crime, court, and prison beats. We have members from magazines, newspapers, television, and online sites, as well as book authors and freelancers. It was founded by Ted Gest, then of U.S. News and World Report, and David Krajicek, who covered crime at several newspapers, including the New York Daily News.)

GIST: "In a new report, “Tracking how the Trump administration is making the criminal legal system worse,” the Prison Policy Initiative implements its “federal tracker page,” which keeps tabs on the overall effects of this presidency on this country’s criminal legal system. “Each action has been troubling, but the true nature of the crisis is only clear when these actions are viewed together in their entirety,” the Prison Policy report notes. “On this page, we are tracking the Trump administration’s efforts to make America’s criminal legal system harsher, less effective, and even more unfair.”

While the administration can’t set explicit policy that impacts state prisons, local jails, and non-federal law enforcement agencies, it is using its bully pulpit and control over federal spending to coerce state and local governments into expanding the size and brutality of their criminal legal systems.

The report notes Trump’s position on the federal death penalty and his push for executions along with expansions of policing powers and prisons, along with his administrations elimination of funding for the Prison Rape Elimination Act and its attack on protections for trans prisoners. The report also summarizes the administration’s efforts to deport immigrants without due process and its announced plans to suspend the Writ of Habeas Corpus for undocumented people, claiming that the United States was under an “invasion.”

Also, the report looks carefully at domestic issues, with careful outlines of funding cuts and changes in power dynamics and transparency. “For too long, prisons and jails have been politicians’ default approach to reducing crime and making communities safer, despite strong evidence that they do neither,” the Prison Policy report notes, listing ways that the administration is undermining efforts to keep people out of jail, including these actions:

• The Trump administration effectively shuttered the Interagency Council on Homelessness, the leading federal agency behind the Housing First model to address homelessness. This model provides people with housing and services on a no-strings-attached basis, serving as a first step in addressing homelessness. Housing First programs have proven successful at ending chronic homelessness, while also effectively reducing arrests and incarceration, particularly when tailored to justice-involved people.
• The Trump administration’s Department of Health and Human Services cancelled or revoked $11.4 billion in grants designed to address substance use disorder and mental health issues, a move that will undoubtedly lead to increasing prison and jail populations.
• Elon Musk’s DOGE massively cut funding and staffing at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, and the administration has proposed merging the organization into a new agency in a way that medical providers warn could seriously jeopardize access to mental health and substance use treatment.
• The Department of Justice rescinded approximately $5 million in funding to the Vera Institute of Justice, which was intended for programs to improve prison conditions and mental health crisis response, among other things.
• The Department of Justice’s Office on Violence Against Women has frozen funding for programs that provide support to victims of domestic violence.
• The administration has eliminated 373 Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs grants to 221 organizations in 37 states across the country

The entire story can be read at: 

• https://crimjj.wordpress.com/2025/06/13/report-a-new-kind-of-crisis-tracking-federal-effects-on-the-nations-legal-system

PUBLISHER'S NOTE:  I am monitoring this case/issue/resource. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic"  section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com.  Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog.

SEE BREAKDOWN OF  SOME OF THE ON-GOING INTERNATIONAL CASES (OUTSIDE OF THE CONTINENTAL USA) THAT I AM FOLLOWING ON THIS BLOG,  AT THE LINK BELOW:  HL:

https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/120008354894645705/4704913685758792985

———————————————————————————————

FINAL WORD:  (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases):  "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices."

Lawyer Radha Natarajan:

Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;

—————————————————————————————————

FINAL, FINAL WORD: "Since its inception, the Innocence Project has pushed the criminal legal system to confront and correct the laws and policies that cause and contribute to wrongful convictions.   They never shied away from the hard cases — the ones involving eyewitness identifications, confessions, and bite marks. Instead, in the course of presenting scientific evidence of innocence, they've exposed the unreliability of evidence that was, for centuries, deemed untouchable." So true!

Christina Swarns: Executive Director: The Innocence Project;

————————————————————————————————----

Gustavo Mireles: Texas: Daryl Parker, a retired U.S. Marine and police investigator now turned investigator, has attacked the DNA evidence used to convict him of murder more than twenty years ago as "fatally flawed," MY RGV.com (Reporter Xavier Alvarez) reports…“I can tell you that the DNA evidence was fatally flawed from the very beginning,” Parker said. “It was collected wrong. It was stored wrong. It was transported wrong. It was tested wrong. Every single step in that chain was flawed.”

QUOTE OF THE DAY: "And, in all his years as an investigator, Parker said he hasn’t encountered a case as egregious as this before. “I’ve never seen a law enforcement investigation this bad,” Parker said. “In fact, I would say that it’s more than bad, it is intentional.”

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PASSAGE OF THE DAY: In a September 2021 hearing, former Assistant District Attorney Luis Gonzalez argued that the blood on the jeans, the two bloodstains on the outside of the truck and the hair found in Rebollar’s purse matched Mireles. Gonzalez further argued that if DNA belonging to someone else were to be found, if retested it would only prove that someone else was there, not that Mireles is innocent. Brian Erhenberg, Mireles’ attorney, retorted that the Texas Department of Public Safety crime lab, which was later moved to Weslaco, didn’t use the FBI’s new standard of testing in 2001 on the evidence. That lab was shut down in 2003 after an internal audit found gross errors, including mishandling of evidence, which impacted hundreds of cases causing several personnel to be suspended. Erhenberg also alleged that Arce and/or Rodriguez are the murderers."

----------------------------------------------------

STORY: "Investigator details evidence in Alamo man’s ‘fatally flawed’ murder conviction," by Reporter Xavier Alvarez, published by my RGV.com,  on June 13, 2025. (Xavier Alvarez is a Rio Grande Valley native who covers crime and courts in Hidalgo County,)

GIST: "Monday morning saw family and friends gathered at the Hidalgo County Courthouse just outside of the 332nd state district court’s doors with the hope of seeing their loved one get a second chance at life following a 20-plus year struggle, only to be met with resistance once more.

Gustavo Mireles, 58, was sentenced to life without parole for the brutal murder of 41-year-old Mary Jane Rebollar on Aug. 14, 2002. A murder he said and has continued to say he didn’t commit. A murder that experts have said was severely mishandled.

Daryl Parker, a retired U.S. Marine and police lieutenant now turned investigator, who’s been working on Mireles’ case for about 12 years with the Texas Innocence Project, said Monday that the investigation into the murder was “flawed.”

“I can tell you that the DNA evidence was fatally flawed from the very beginning,” Parker said. “It was collected wrong. It was stored wrong. It was transported wrong. It was tested wrong. Every single step in that chain was flawed.”

On June 31, 2001, Rebollar’s partially nude body was found collapsed in a pool of blood on the passenger floorboard of a partially burned Chevrolet pick-up truck with Kansas plates parked on a dirt road in a sugar cane field in Alamo.

Rebollar had been stabbed 46 times with an unknown object that was never found.

Two days before, Rebollar had a night out at the Starz Lounge with a woman named Delia Rodriguez whom she befriended after moving to the Rio Grande Valley from Lubbock.

She was dating a man named Jesus Arce. The two planned on starting a business together in the Rio Grande Valley.

And that same night, at the same bar, was Mireles having drinks and watching a soccer game where their paths ultimately crossed. The two spoke briefly before Mireles left. He had to be in Corpus Christi the following morning for work.

Then, months later, Mireles would find himself indicted on charges of capital murder, murder, arson and sexual assault.

Crime scene photos showed that Rebollar had fought back. She had a clump of hair in her fist and blood under her fingernails.

Parker explained the two items that got Mireles convicted were hair and blood. When they finally got a hold of the test kit, there were two items missing: hair and blood.

He added that the evidence gathered from Mireles at the jail didn’t arrive intact to the lab.

“There was blood missing from one of the blood tubes and … both of the hair samples, the envelopes which had been sealed and were testified to at the trial by the nurse who did it, were open,” Parker said.

Furthermore, the blood gathered at the crime scene wasn’t consistent with the conditions of the crime scene.

Blood smeared on the vehicle should’ve been from Rebollar; however, if the killer was injured in the initial struggle, there would’ve been a mixture of her and the murderer’s blood and yet the two swabs of blood collected from outside of the truck door were only Mireles’.

“It doesn’t make sense,” Parker said. “That’s not consistent with the crime scene.”

In email correspondence from 2013 between the Texas Department of Public Safety, CODIS Program Manager Gary J. Molina and a woman named Vanessa Nelson, which was provided by Mireles’ sister, Leonor Matano, reads that a crucial piece of evidence, namely a pair of jeans with Mireles’ blood allegedly on them, was never entered into CODIS.

CODIS stands for Combined DNA Index System, which is a tool utilized by law enforcement to compare DNA profiles from crime scenes with those of known offenders or those arrested.

“I have an old case that is currently under review at the request of the Texas Forensic Science Commission that needs a keyboard search,” the email read. “A profile was never entered into CODIS by the original examiner.”

That piece of evidence were the jeans belonging to Rebollar that allegedly had Mireles’ blood on them.

In a September 2021 hearing, former Assistant District Attorney Luis Gonzalez argued that the blood on the jeans, the two bloodstains on the outside of the truck and the hair found in Rebollar’s purse matched Mireles. Gonzalez further argued that if DNA belonging to someone else were to be found, if retested it would only prove that someone else was there, not that Mireles is innocent.

Brian Erhenberg, Mireles’ attorney, retorted that the Texas Department of Public Safety crime lab, which was later moved to Weslaco, didn’t use the FBI’s new standard of testing in 2001 on the evidence.

That lab was shut down in 2003 after an internal audit found gross errors, including mishandling of evidence, which impacted hundreds of cases causing several personnel to be suspended.

Erhenberg also alleged that Arce and/or Rodriguez are the murderers.

Though Arce was Rebollar’s boyfriend, he was romantically involved with Rodriguez at the time of the murder, which is a point the jury in Mireles’ trial never heard.

When her body was found, Rebollar was in possession of a map to Arce’s house which was closer to her body than Mireles’, according to Erhenberg and evidence in the case.

Rebollar had defensive wounds. She had a broken nose, black eyes and cuts on her knuckles and fingers.

The clump of hair her body held on to was never tested. And, at the time, the DNA found in the fingernail scraping testing only matched a profile of a woman.

Then, nearly 15 years later, Arce was murdered in Lubbock.

Parker believes corruption played a role in this case because Arce, the victim’s common-law husband, was a cartel drug mule.

Authorities found 1,500 pounds of packaged marijuana in Arce’s house the night they spoke to him about his wife who had already been missing for two days.

Arce never called the police to report Rebollar missing and police never searched the grounds for Rebollar’s missing boot, keys nor track marks or blood, according to Parker.

He added that Arce did a few years in the penitentiary only to be found later tied to a bed and beaten to death by the cartel following his release.

Mireles’ family and friends waited over three hours in hopes that state District Judge Juan Alvarez would find the evidence insufficient, but they were met with another obstacle.

Mireles’ team submitted the proper documents to proceed on March 14. The state had 20 days to respond but failed to meet the deadline, according to court documents.

Alvarez still gave Erhenberg a window of opportunity for another hearing.

“By tomorrow I have to submit the case law,” Erhenberg said on Monday. “If I can find case law that is discretionary for the judge then he’ll allow it, because he heard his case. He does feel for Gus.”

Erhenberg was tasked with finding case law in order to proceed with another hearing scheduled for June 23. He said via email that he has yet to hear from the judge.

“He’s given us one small window,” Erhenberg said.

Despite it all, Mireles’ supporters were still all smiles. The flame of hope may have dimmed that morning, but it remains steadfast all these years later.

And, in all his years as an investigator, Parker said he hasn’t encountered a case as egregious as this before.

“I’ve never seen a law enforcement investigation this bad,” Parker said. “In fact, I would say that it’s more than bad, it is intentional.”

The entire story can be read at:

https://myrgv.com/local-news/2025/06/13/investigator-details-evidence-in-alamo-mans-fatally-flawed-murder-conviction/

PUBLISHER'S NOTE:  I am monitoring this case/issue/resource. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic"  section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com.  Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog.

SEE BREAKDOWN OF  SOME OF THE ON-GOING INTERNATIONAL CASES (OUTSIDE OF THE CONTINENTAL USA) THAT I AM FOLLOWING ON THIS BLOG,  AT THE LINK BELOW:  HL:

https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/120008354894645705/4704913685758792985

———————————————————————————————

FINAL WORD:  (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases):  "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices."

Lawyer Radha Natarajan:

Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;

—————————————————————————————————

FINAL, FINAL WORD: "Since its inception, the Innocence Project has pushed the criminal legal system to confront and correct the laws and policies that cause and contribute to wrongful convictions.   They never shied away from the hard cases — the ones involving eyewitness identifications, confessions, and bite marks. Instead, in the course of presenting scientific evidence of innocence, they've exposed the unreliability of evidence that was, for centuries, deemed untouchable." So true!

Christina Swarns: Executive Director: The Innocence Project;

————————————————————————————————----