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A rural Texas district judge, sheriff and ex-district attorney have denied allegations that they retaliated against a former police captain who said in an affidavit that a close relationship among the three public officials would prevent a defendant in a criminal case from getting a fair trial.

Terry Bevill claimed that because of his affidavit, Wood County Sheriff Tom Castloo, 402nd District Judge Jeffrey Fletcher and former Wood County District Attorney Jim Wheeler worked together to get him fired as a police captain in the City of Quitman. He said they then filed an aggravated perjury charge that Wheeler delayed for 16 months before taking before a grand jury, which eventually declined to indict the ex-police captain, according to the original complaint in Bevill v. City of Quitman.

However, the defendants—Castloo, Fletcher, Wheeler, Wood County, the Quitman Police Department, and the City of Quitman and Mayor David Dobbs—denied allegations of wrongdoing. They argued that the court should dismiss the lawsuit because they have immunity to Bevill's claims.

“This is one of those cases,” said Bevill's attorney, Laura Benitez Geisler, partner in Sommerman, McCaffity, Quesada & Geisler in Dallas. “I took it because I really believe in my client. It's the right thing to do. This kind of abuse of power needs to be called out. They need to be held accountable.”

Bevill's June 3 original complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas in Sherman, provides the background of the case. The ex-police captain swore to his affidavit to support a change of venue for David McGee, a jailer who worked inside the Wood County Sheriff's Department and was facing charges of facilitating or permitting an inmate escape and tampering with government records.

“Officials from Quitman and Wood County made sure Bevill paid a high price for exercising his right to 'free' speech,” the complaint claimed.

The complaint alleged the defendants approached Dobbs and threatened to stop prosecuting cases from Quitman and stop providing sheriff's department assistance. It claimed Dobbs then talked to the Quitman police chief about firing Bevill. The chief didn't want to fire Bevill and wanted to handle the issue internally, but Dobbs refused, according to the pleading. Bevill was fired in late June 2017.

Then on June 28, 2017, Fletcher issued a warrant for Bevill's arrest for felony aggravated perjury, alleged the complaint, which said that Fletcher said in open court that Bevill's affidavit contained lies that were reprehensible and disrespectful of law enforcement and officers of the court.

“Wheeler refused to bring this case before a grand jury in an effort to prolong the pending criminal action as long as possible in retribution for the affidavit,” the complaint alleged, noting that in the 16-month delay, Bevill couldn't work in law enforcement and took a lesser-paying job as a truck driver.

But the DA would soon have his own troubles.

In October, Wheeler resigned as district attorney, in the middle of a Texas Department of Public Safety Texas Rangers Division investigation for official oppression, the complaint said. Within 10 days of Wheeler's resignation, Bevill's case finally went before a grand jury and was dismissed on Oct. 31, 2018.

In a June 27 answer, the City of Quitman, its police department and Dobbs denied allegations of wrongdoing and argued Bevill was fired for violating police department policy.

Castloo, Wheeler and Wood County also denied allegations of wrongdoing in a July 12 answer and argued they're entitled to immunity. They also argued in a partial motion to dismiss that Bevill's complaint listed just vague, conclusory allegations that don't do enough to show that Castloo deprived Bevill's constitutional rights, or that Wood County had an official policy that violated those rights.

Flowers Davis senior partner Robert Davis, who represents the Wood County defendants, didn't return an email seeking comment before deadline. Neither did Lance Vincent of Ritcheson, Lauffer & Vincent in Tyler, who represents the Quitman defendants. No one from the press office of the Texas Office of the Attorney General, which represents Fletcher, returned an email seeking comment before deadline.

Read the complaint: