Texas Judge, DA, Sheriff Must Face Police Captain’s Speech Claim

A Texas police captain’s right to be free from firing at the behest of a new state judge, a local sheriff, and a local district attorney who allegedly believed an affidavit he provided in a criminal case disparaged them was clearly established, a divided Fifth Circuit ruled.

Judge Jeff Fletcher, James Wheeler, a former Wood County district attorney, and Tom Castloo, the county sheriff, therefore were properly denied immunity from Terry Bevill’s First Amendment retaliation suit, the 2-1 appeals court said.

Bevill says the three men conspired to get him terminated because of his affidavit supporting the bid of David ...