A couple of weeks ago we shared the story of Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Deputy Keith Pikett and his bloodhounds who have misidentified at least two people as criminals through scent identification.

Yesterday, Victoria Advocate posted another article about Pikett and Calvin Miller’s case. They went into the specifics of Miller’s case and the events that lead up to his arrest, mainly the pressure put on the law enforcement by the frightened female citizens to arrest the culprit.

A tall, soft-spoken black man robbed one elderly woman of her life’s savings and sexually assaulted another. He attacked the women in their homes, early in the morning, as they left for church.

Shops in the small town of Yoakum sold out of Mace. Women took self-defense classes.

As pressure mounted on law enforcement to make an arrest, an unnamed source told investigator Collin Lee Campbell Jr. that Calvin Lee Miller was unemployed and “had been buying a lot of cocaine with cash.”

Of course disturbed citizens and victims of crime are anxious to have the criminal behind bars so they can once again feel safe, but it is also important to have the right person in jail. The last thing they want is for someone to be arrested while the true and dangerous perpetrator is still roaming free.

The article also goes into detail about the scent identification process, how they are easily contaminated or influenced, and the legal issues behind dog scent identification. I encourage everyone to take a look and learn a little about the subject, as it is sure to come up again.

Related posts:

1. More police dogs fail “scent lineup” test Two lawsuits have been filed against a police team of dogs who are accused of failing scent tests and rigging...
2. Time Magazine features article on Pikett’s dogs Not long ago we talked about another case of misleading police scent dogs in Texas (see the articles here and...
3. The FBI’s new scent technology According to an Indianapolis news station, the FBI has developed a new scent preservation technology that can “literally bottle up...
4. NY Times Article on Dog-scent Lineups Yesterday the New York Times ran a good article on dog-scent lineups looking particularly at cases in Texas involving that...
5. Another Man Convicted by Preston’s Dogs Gary Bennett, who has spent 25 years in prison, may be the fourth person exonerated in Brevard County based on...
6. Former Texas Governor Calls for Review of Death Penalty in Texas As Texas Governor Rick Perry shamelessly insists on plowing ahead with the October 27th execution of Reggie Blanton (for a...