Thanks to the error of one Harris County Precinct 4 deputy, an untold number of accused drug offenders might be off the hook.

In January, Precinct 4 Constable Mark Herman said his office discovered that the deputy, whom Herman did not name, accidentally threw away a large amount of drug evidence while cleaning out the property storage room. Herman said the property room was so overfilled with years' worth of evidence that "you could barely close the door" — so he tasked several deputies with taking inventory and finding out what could be legally thrown out. "We had four or five people back there doing the right thing—and then we had this one person who evidently did his own thing."

And the trickle-down effect of that deputy's error is just now coming to light: Last week, the Harris County District Attorney's Office dismissed a possession of methamphetamine case against David Bellamy after the prosecutor discovered the drug evidence was missing, as KTRK first reported. Herman said there have since been two more dismissals. The deputy has been fired.