Jeff Fletcher and Jim Wheeler Judge Jeffrey Fletcher, left, and former Wood County District Attorney James Wheeler, right.

A sitting district judge, a sheriff and a former district attorney won't have to answer discovery in a civil rights lawsuit against them for now, as they appeal a major ruling that denied them qualified immunity in a free-speech case.

In a case in which a former police captain alleges he was fired for speaking up about an improperly close relationship between the three government officials, U.S. District Judge Amos L. Mazzant of the Eastern District of Texas on Wednesday ordered a pause on discovery against 402nd District Judge Jeff Fletcher, Wood County Sheriff Tom Castloo and former Wood County District Attorney Jim Wheeler.

But the court allowed discovery to move forward against Wood County, the city of Quitman and its mayor, David Dobbs.

Castloo and Wheeler asked for a stay on discovery, because they've filed interlocutory appeals to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. They're trying to overturn Mazzant's previous order in the case, in which the judge found the three defendants couldn't use qualified immunity to escape plaintiff Terry Bevill's civil rights lawsuit.

"The court recognizes that these circumstances are unique and implicate important interests. It is not every day that there are allegations of a conspiracy between a state court judge, a district attorney, and a county sheriff to have a police captain fired for exercising his First Amendment rights," said a March 5 memorandum opinion and order that denied qualified immunity.

According to documents filed in the case, Bevill v. City of Quitman, Bevill used to work as the police captain in Quitman. There was a county jailer charged with a crime, and Bevill submitted an affidavit that supported moving the case to a new county. Bevill stated that a close relationship between Castloo, Wheeler and Fletcher would stop the defendant from receiving a fair trial in Wood County.

Bevill's lawsuit alleged he faced retaliation for exercising his First Amendment rights by submitting the affidavit. The three public officials got him fired from his job, by threatening the city to withhold resources. Fletcher stated on the bench in open court that Bevill lied in the affidavit, and filed an aggravated perjury charge against Bevill. Wheeler retaliated further by causing 16 months of inaction that left the perjury charge hanging over Bevill's head. Finally, a grand jury rejected the charge, said the court documents.

Read more: Texas District Judge, Ex-District Attorney Deny They Retaliated Against Former Police Captain

All of the defendants have denied all allegations of wrongdoing, according to filings. Quitman and its mayor argued Bevill was fired for violating police department policy.

Castloo, Fletcher and Wheeler argued that they had qualified immunity.

But Mazzant rejected that defense, and found Bevill pleaded an adequate First Amendment retaliation claim. The judge ruled that Bevill spoke out as a citizen, not a government employee. He spoke on a matter of public concern, and it deserved free speech protection. The government's interests in ensuring government services run efficiently did not outweigh Bevill's rights, the order said. Among other things, Mazzant wrote that Fletcher, Wheeler and Castloo should have known that using their government positions to violate Bevill's rights was objectively unreasonable.

"Plaintiff's interest in speaking out about the potential existence of corruption of conspiracy among public officials is clearly significant enough to tip the scales in his favor,"the opinion said.

Read the opinion:

The Texas Office of the Attorney General represents Fletcher. The office's spokeswoman, Kayleigh Date, declined to comment.

Robert Davis and Robin O'Donoghue, who represent Wheeler and Castloo, each didn't return an email seeking comment.

Neither did plaintiffs attorney Laura Benitez Geisler, partner in Dallas' Sommerman, McCaffity, Quesada & Geisler.

Wheeler, Fletcher and Castloo must file their appellate briefs with the Fifth Circuit on July 1, according to the appeal docket.

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