The wrongful arrest lawsuit against the Harris County Sheriff's office has gotten off to a good start for the plaintiffs.
Former Harris County prosecutor Jennifer Cook, one of two assistant district attorneys who prosecuted the Ibarras six years ago, told jurors Thursday she did not refer the officers' actions to the Harris County District Attorney's police or public integrity bureaus for investigation after learning one of them had destroyed film that could potentially be used as evidence in her case.But during repeated questioning by the Ibarras' attorney, Lloyd Kelley, Cook agreed the deputies did not have "reasonable suspicion" to pursue Sean Ibarra that day or lawful authority to destroy film in his camera.
Still, she stopped short of calling the deputies' actions criminal.
"This is more from the standpoint of a Fourth Amendment violation ... It's an unlawful seizure," Cook said. "I wouldn't call it a theft."
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In earlier testimony, the former commander of the multiagency task force conducting the drug raid that day agreed it is not illegal to take pictures of undercover officers.
"I think it was a mistake in judgment," Baytown police Capt. Roger Clifford said reluctantly of the deputies' actions.
Clifford denied the task force had a policy of seizing film from citizens. He could not recall hearing about other incidents where bystanders took pictures of the task force's officers.
It looks like this case won't take that long to try, given that the hearing to determine if Chuck Rosenthal is in contempt of the court for his email deletions has been rescheduled for after it concludes.
U.S. District Judge Kenneth Hoyt set the continuation of the hearing, including Rosenthal's testimony, for March 14. It was originally scheduled to resume Monday.