Texas: Harris County to pay $1.7 million in civil rights case

Police wrongdoing again

Harris County commissioners voted unanimously Monday morning to pay $1.7 million to settle a lawsuit that led to the resignation of District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal. After an emergency, closed-door meeting, commissioners agreed to settle with Sean Carlos Ibarra, 37, and Erik Adam Ibarra, 28, two brothers who claim that they were wrongfully arrested by sheriff's deputies, whom they photographed and videotaped during a 2002 drug raid at their neighbor's home. Because of a subpoena filed in that lawsuit, Rosenthal's personal, romantic e-mails to his secretary surfaced.

The settlement comes as the sheriff's deputies were scheduled to testify this week in the Ibarra's civil trial in U.S. District Judge Kenneth Hoyt's court. The Ibarras were seeking $5 million in damages for the alleged civil rights violation. The lawsuit claims that a sheriff's deputy hit Sean Ibarra after he refused to hand over a camera that he had used to photograph deputies during a raid on his neighbor's home. When deputies then burst into the Ibarra home, Erik Ibarra, then a 21-year-old college student, grabbed a video camera to film the officers' actions. The lawsuit claims the deputies drew their guns and one threatened to shoot Erik Ibarra.

Both brothers were taken into custody on charges of resisting arrest. Sean Ibarra also was charged with evading arrest. Both were later cleared of wrongdoing.

In court papers, Sheriff Tommy Thomas denied that his officers did anything improper. Deputies only used force to defend themselves because one of the Ibarras turned to hit and kick a deputy during the confrontation, he said.

Rosenthal and Harris County prosecutor Sally Ring were deposed as witnesses in the civil case because one of the deputies claimed they acted on instructions from the District Attorney's Office when they arrested the Ibarras and destroyed film in their cameras.

The Ibarras filed a subpoena for all e-mails Rosenthal sent or received in a three-month period from July 2007 through Oct. 15, 2007. That subpoena, intended to turn up correspondence about the Ibarra case, also generate Rosenthal's personal e-mails. About six weeks later and amid tremendous political pressure, the district attorney resigned.

The Ibarras' lawyers made the offer over the weekend — before Monday's scheduled testimony from deputies involved in the case, said County Judge Ed Emmett. Commissioner Steve Radack said he voted for the settlement because sheriff's deputies made mistakes on the day of the incident. ``There were some policies that were violated,'' he said. ``You had somebody on the street who went beyond what was reasonable.''

Emmett said, ``The rational thing to do was to accept this settlement offer. Sometimes you make the best deal you can and move on. It allows the sheriff's office to get back to being the sheriff's office.''

Hoyt will determine whether the county will pay more for the Ibarra brothers' legal fees. Emmett speculated the county may pay as much as $1 million to cover those fees. The settlement would end all legal actions against the sheriff's department, the four deputies, Thomas and the county. But it would not end contempt actions brought by Hoyt against Rosenthal, Radack said. The county has spent more than $125,000 on Rosenthal's contempt proceedings and his attempts to keep some e-mails private.

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