Another defendant in lawsuit against Sheriff's office

Here's an update to the latest lawsuit filed by the Ibarra brothers and some other people against the Harris County Sheriff's Office.

Sgt. C.A. Sandoval has been named as a defendant along with Sheriff Tommy Thomas and other deputies in the federal case, which claims the sheriff's department retaliates against people who file civil rights complaints. Municipal court judge and law professor April Walker, husband and wife Lloyd and Loretta Henderson and brothers Sean and Erik Ibarra filed the lawsuit.

Sandoval was originally not part of the lawsuit, but was added Monday after a friend of the Hendersons alleged the officer tried to put words in his mouth while questioning him last week about Lloyd Henderson.

The friend, Joe Burroughs, said he believed Sandoval was trying to make him say negative things about Henderson, who had complained of civil rights violations after a deputy threw him to the ground and handcuffed him last fall.

In another matter, the Harris County District Attorney's Office withdrew a subpoena ordering Walker to appear before a grand jury June 19 to testify about her actions leading up to her arrest on a charge of impersonating a public servant, her attorney said.

That charge was dismissed two days later after it was proved Walker is a judge. But after filing a civil rights complaint with the sheriff about her arrest, Walker received a subpoena last month ordering her to appear before a grand jury.

A district attorney's investigator notified Walker on Monday the subpoena has been canceled and said the investigation into her actions have been suspended, said Walker's attorney, Lloyd Kelley.

So here's a thought to ponder: Do you think it's possible that Tommy Thomas might resign sometime before November? He's battling multiple lawsuits, and having Wayne Dolcefino on your tail is never a comforting thing. Bear in mind that a resignation more than 74 days out - August 25, by my count - means that no Republican would appear on the ballot; after that, it'd still be Thomas in the R slot. See the relevant Election Code statutes for details, or just recall what happened with Tom DeLay in 2006. I doubt there'd be that much enthusiasm for a write-in candidacy, though I must admit that Shelley Sekula Gibbs is available as a candidate and is no doubt ready to serve her Party as needed.

Anyway, just something to contemplate. We now return to your regularly scheduled drumbeat of bad news for Tommy Thomas.

Posted by Charles Kuffner on June 04, 2008 to Local politics