A jury deliberated for nearly an hour before returning to the 137th District Court room with a verdict acquitting a 42-year-old man linked to a burglary two years ago in North Lubbock after investigators found a cigarette butt inside of a home that was robbed.
Lee William Straight had been held at the Lubbock County Detention Center since Dec. 27, 2023, on multiple charges including aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, continuous violence against a family member and burglary of a habitation.
On June 30, jurors were selected to hear the state’s case against him.
His charge stems from a Lubbock police investigation that began on Nov. 25, 2023, when the owners of a home in the 1900 block of Kent Street reported that thieves entered their home by breaking a window in the back of the house and and stealing property, which included laptops, firearms and jewelry.
Investigators found a spent cigarette butt near the broken glass. The homeowners, who did not know Straight, told investigators that no one in the house smoked and they could not explain how the cigarette butt ended up inside the home, which was surrounded by farmland.
Straight was linked to the case after investigators sent a cigarette butt for testing at the Texas Department of Public Safety crime laboratory, which flagged Straight’s profile from a DNA database, according to court records.
Investigators later obtained a DNA sample from Straight, who was being held at the Lubbock County Detention Center on unrelated charges.
A Texas Department of Public Safety analyst told jurors that there was a high likelihood the DNA investigators provided him was the same DNA as the one on the cigarette butt.
During cross examination, the analyst told jurors that errors do happen in the processing of DNA evidence but said none were made in Straight’s case.
However, there was a clerical error as the name on the profile listed a middle name of James, instead of William.
The DNA analysis was the only evidence against Straight as investigators were unable to find fingerprints or any security camera footage of the robbery. The stolen property was also unrecovered.
Jurors deliberated about 54 minutes on July 1 before returning to the courtroom with a verdict acquitting Straight.
“This just shows that the our wonderful jury system does work,” said defense attorney Charles Chambers, who, along with Sarah Kannel, represented Straight.
However, since he has open, unrelated cases of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and continuous violence against a family member, he remains held at the Lubbock County Detention Center.
Prosecutors declined to comment citing Straight’s pending cases.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Lubbock jury acquits man linked to burglary case by cigarette butt evidence
Reporting by Gabriel Monte, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal / Lubbock Avalanche-Journal
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