Published: November 08, 2007 08:18 am      

Judge rules on Arender evidence motion

No wrongdoing found in destruction of crime scene

In a short, two paragraph written ruling released Wednesday afternoon, District Judge John Jackson found no reason to issue sanctions in connection with the destruction of a crime scene connected with the Hanna Mack murder case.

The six-year-old was found Sept. 10 raped and hanged in the garage/barn beside her home. Shaun Earl Arender, 19, was charged with capital murder after his DNA matched samples found at the crime scene.

Arender was in custody on unrelated burglary charges when he was charged with the little girl’s murder and his DNA was on file in a national computer database. It came back positive after initial crime scene DNA test results were run through that database.

Jackson’s ruling was succinct.

“Relative to the destruction of the crime scene, I find that there is not sufficient evidence which would cause me to impose a sanction at this time,” Jackson wrote in his ruling. “Should other evidence lead me to believe the destruction of the crime scene resulted from bad faith or misconduct, I will not hesitate to impose sanctions in the future.”

“Defendant’s Motion to Preserve Evidence is granted to the extent that the subject evidence is known to the State and within its possession,” the ruling continues. “The State is further directed to assist in the preservation of any objects, recordings, or other materials of any nature not in its possession which is known to it and may reasonably constitute evidence, whether inculpatory or exculpatory.”

That was the entirety of the written ruling Jackson issued Wednesday.

In a related matter, Navarro County Sheriff’s Office officials said Wednesday they are still waiting on the DNA test results connected with Kevin Wayne Anders, the man first named as the primary suspect in the Hanna Mack murder case. NCSO officials have yet to officially rule Anders out as a possible participant in the murder.

Anders remains in Navarro County Justice Center jail on possession of child pornograhy charges in lieu of $100,000 bond.

Arenders is also in the same jail. His bond is set at $2.5 million.

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Loyd Cook may be contacted via e-mail at lcook@corsicanadailysun.com