The circuit clerk in Jefferson County’s Bessemer Cutoff Division has been cited with contempt of court for her reported failure to help find missing evidence in 1974 rape case.

Circuit Judge David Carpenter issued the citation against Karen Dunn Burks, saying she has “repeatedly and willfully” refused to comply with multiple court orders to locate the missing evidence.

“This court has been exceptionally patient with the clerk and exceedingly lenient,’’ Carpenter wrote. “No party to any case before this court would ever receive the deference and tolerance that has been bestowed on the clerk in this case.”

Burks, elected as clerk in 2018, is set to appear before Carpenter on March 11 to show cause why she should not be found in contempt.

Burks denied any wrongdoing and said she will soon release more information.

The ordeal has been going on since 2021, when the Conviction Integrity Unity – launched by District Attorney Lynneice Washington – began to look into the conviction of Ervin Harris. The unit is designed to remedy wrongful convictions within her jurisdiction

Harris was convicted of rape in 1975 and served more than 40 years in an Alabama prison.

Though he has completed his sentence, Harris to this day maintains his innocence and is seeking a pardon, and an expungement of his criminal record. He is represented by The Innocence Project in New York.

His lawyers declined to comment

Court records show that among the many items of evidence introduced at Harris’s trial were articles of clothing which may contain DNA.

In a report from the Alabama Department of Toxicology dated Dec. 18, 1974, a state toxicologist described several items of clothing taken from the victim that “revealed the presence of blood and semen.”

At the time of trial, Carpenter wrote in his contempt citation against Burks, there was no way to test to identify the DNA or from whom it may have originated.

In September 2021, the Conviction Integrity Unit filed a motion for the clerk’s office to release the transcripts, evidence and the entire file.

The following month, Burks’ office produced one brown envelope containing only paper documents.

The district attorney’s office discovered from its records that there were multiple items of evidence introduced at trial that could possibly be tested now.

District attorney officials told Carpenter that employees of the clerk’s office said they had looked for evidence in the case, and also verified that some or all of the evidence existed and was in the possession of the clerk’s office.

The first court hearing where Burks testified was held in June 2023.

At that point, Carpenter ordered Burks to certify that employees had searched seven specific locations and to provide the dates and the names of the employees who did the searches.

Carpenter wrote in February that there had not been any certified response.

In April 2024, Carpenter issued a citation for civil contempt against Burks and set a show cause hearing for May.

At that time, the judge didn’t hold her in contempt because he said he received assurances from Burks that she would conduct the searches. She was given 45 days to complete the searches.

In July 2024, Burks sent the court an email saying she had searched all of the requested areas and wrote, “as I stated, no evidence exists. All efforts have been exhausted in this task.

Carpenter said the email was not in compliance with his orders.

In December 2024, Carpenter entered an order requiring Burks to allow investigators from the District Attorney’s Office – who are sheriff’s employees – to accompany the clerk’s office employees to search the seven specific locations.

In January, a status hearing was held. At that point, Carpenter wrote, Burks said the ordered search had taken place in July 2024 and said Deputy Daniel Tipton had been there for the search.

On Jan. 28, Tipton filed an affidavit, testifying that he was told by the clerk’s office he was searching for a rape kit and that he went to “two places, possibly three places.”

At one of those locations, Tipton said, clerk’s office employees didn’t even enter the room.

“The district attorney’s office has made it clear that they are not searching for a rape kit, but for clothing that may contain testable evidence, and other items that appear on the index of evidence introduced at trial,” Carpenter wrote.

Carpenter said he spoke with Burks personally in February and told her to coordinate the ordered searches, since two deadlines had passed.

On Feb. 7, Carpenter issued the citation of contempt for Burks and ordered she appear on March 11 for the hearing. Carpenter suggested she have legal counsel with her, and to bring any keys or card keys or any other devices that are necessary for accessing the requested search locations.

On March 4, district attorney’s officials added an eighth area they would like to search, believing some of the evidence they seek could be in that location.

Carpenter on Wednesday granted the request and ordered the search in the basement of the Bessemer Criminal Justice Center to take place.