Hogtied and beaten in Cherokee County custody, circa 2006

Michael Clyde Jones, "allegedly" beaten up by Cherokee County, TX Sheriff Deputies (courtesy Smith Co. 8/3/2006)

March 15, 2010
Jacksonville Daily Progress
"Case against White dismissed"
Lauren LaFleur CNHI

JACKSONVILLE, TX — Charges against Cherokee County Sheriff’s Department Capt. Chris White were dismissed Monday.

White was accused of kicking Michael Jones of Jacksonville in the face on the night of Aug. 3, 2006, after Jones was restrained in handcuffs.

White had no comment Monday afternoon about the matter.

“We are pleased with the Court's decision,” said Chad Rook, one of the attorneys representing White. “The Court clearly made the correct ruling in dismissing all claims against Captain White, as not a shred of evidence exists that he did anything to Mr. Jones.”

Jones initially filed a suit against Cherokee County because of his alleged attack. However, the county was dismissed by the court on summary judgment.

Jones was charged with evading arrest for the night in question — witnesses said they saw Jones hitting a woman in his car that night. When a Bullard police officer tried to pull Jones over to investigate the matter, Jones fled.

He was found about five hours later behind a convenience store in Troup, after abandoning his vehicle and fleeing on foot.

Ted Garrigan, Jones’ court-appointed attorney, said Jones was subdued and laying on the ground, cuffed at wrists and ankles, when Texas Department of Criminal Justice officers turned him over to Cherokee County officers.

“By the time he got to the Smith County Jail, he had six teeth knocked out and his nose was broken,” Garrigan said in a previous interview. “He said he remembers lying on the ground face down completely restrained. A Cherokee County deputy vehicle pulls up, a deputy steps out of it and kicks him in the face until he blacked out.”

According to Rook and Robert Davis, the other attorney representing White, Jones could provide a physical description of his alleged attacker — approximately 5 feet, 8 inches tall and 150-180 pounds.

But the claims that he was kicked in the face and subsequent description of his attacker didn’t come for a while.

“He never made this claim at the scene or for months following his arrest,” Rook said, via an e-mailed response to questions sent by a Daily Progress reporter. “He only started making such a claim at some point during his criminal proceedings months later.”

Rook said only three Cherokee County officers were on the scene, and White was only named because he fit the description of the man Jones claimed kicked him.
Statements were filed by officers on the scene, including those by seven TDCJ officers, all dated between Aug. 15, 2006, and Aug. 18, 2006. Six of those seven ended their written statements by stating they did not see anyone kick, hit or mistreat Jones after he was cuffed. While the wording among the six statements vary, they each express that they did not witness Jones being mistreated by any officers on the scene.

In fact, according to records obtained by the Daily Progress, only one officer recorded that any sort of attack was made on Jones — former Bullard Police Department Officer Bryan Richards recorded that a single officer involved in the incident, Troup’s Officer L. Becker, referenced [the] alleged incident at all.

“While Officer Becker was at the Bullard Police Department, he advised me that he saw a Cherokee County deputy kick Michael Jones in the mouth after he was restrained with hand and leg restraints,” according to Richards’ report. “This statement was not documented in the incident report that was provided to the Bullard Police Department.”

Becker’s statement was dated Aug. 11, 2006. (Source: Jacksonville Daily Progress March 15, 2010)

Jones attempted to appeal his excessive force case, according to the Tyler Morning Telegraph.
The 12th Court of Appeals published the vehicle traveling at 100MPH was a "deadly weapon" without reference to the illegal ass whoopin' Jones got when Cherokee County deputies arrived.  The TDCAA also fails to mention the beating after the high speed chase.
(Source: Michael Clyde Jones v. The State of Texas--Appeal from 241st District Court of Smith County)

Cherokee County Texas Deputy beats handcuffed black man; Cleared of excessive force

Allegations of Brutality Investigated, April 21, 2005 by Donna McCollum

Cherokee County, TX:

The NAACP is interested in John Brown's story. The Alto man's account of alleged police brutality begins when he heard family dogs barking on the dark night of April 11. "I thought somebody was stealing and when I got up on the person it was the police," recalled Brown with NAACP representative John Morrison closely listening.

Actually it was Cherokee County Sgt. Jamie Beene, a 10-year veteran with the sheriff's department. Sgt. Beene was in Brown's neighborhood chasing a drug suspect.

Brown said, "I seen the gun like this right here and he told me to put my hands up and I was terrified because I thought he was going to shoot me because I just ran up on him like that."
Brown described how he was arrested in front of his uncle's trailer where he was handcuffed and taken down a long driveway where he was allegedly beaten. "He told me to get down on my knees and I was attempting to get down on my knees and he kicked me and broke my ankle, just started kicking me."

Brown's father, a stroke victim in a wheelchair said he begged the officer to stop while feeling more helpless than his son. John Skinner cried as he recalled the night. "He kept doing it and he told me to shut up and go back in the house and I told him, 'I'm not going nowhere as long as he's kicking my son.'"

Nacogdoches NAACP spokesman John Morrison said, "Something just don't add up and to me it's totally a case of police brutality."

Shortly after the organization was contacted by Brown the request for an investigation by the Texas Rangers was submitted by authorities. Brown said, "I left messages on his [Texas Ranger Rudy Flores] answering machine for almost a week and then when the NAACP got involved here they come calling me."

Brown may be charged with assaulting a public servant, something difficult for him to understand with three plates and 16 pins in his leg. His injuries required surgery. He was taken to a hospital by an ambulance called by Alto police.

Cherokee County Sheriff James Campbell and District Attorney Elmer Beckworth are declining interviews about this case until after the investigation. In previous reports Campbell denies any wrongdoing by his sergeant in this incident. By phone the D.A. said the evidence will be placed before the grand jury in the coming weeks.
 (Source: KTRE )

Alto, TX:
Cherokee County's Sheriff Department faced another civil rights lawsuit after Deputy Jamie Beene broke the ankle of former Alto high school football player John Brown for no legal reason.





Brown lives in the small town of Alto, and unfortunately was born black in East Texas. With nothing better to do on a quiet Spring night in the piney woods, Officer Jamie Beene spotlighted the property of John Brown's grandfather, ostensibly viewing an ongoing drug deal on the side of the road.
Even Sheriff James Campbell stands by his deputy's strange story, that John Brown was evading arrest, even though he was knocked down, handcuffed and bound, then his ankle shattered (requiring 3 plates and 16 pins).

Whodunit?:

Cherokee County's rising star Officer James Q. "Jamie" Beene, then patrolling the pocket change drug dealers in a rural area south of Alto, TX called the "Dope Tree." No mention of the fact that officer Beene was trespassing on private property. I guess the drug dealers went inside for a snack. Cherokee County District Attorney Elmer Beckworth offered to charge John Brown with something, like interfering with an "official investigation" according to the aforementioned news article. Sheriff Campbell repeated the story that Brown somehow "attacked" his deputy, even though Brown was hogtied at gunpoint. Elmer Beckworth offers no comment, and no real investigation, a' la his handling of Jennifer Hester being run down in her apartment complex.

The FACTS:
Officer Jamie Beene traveled out of his jurisdiction to the home of John Brown about 2 km south of Alto, TX. After seeing trespassers on his property in the middle of the night, John Brown goes out to check on his dogs. He was then jumped, handcuffed and beaten by officer Jamie Beene, along with members of Alto P.D. about 2 km out of Alto, TX jurisdiction, according to the news articles. John Brown's ankle was broken in the process. Why? What was the motive for this obvious racially motivated attack? Was it that his adjudicated probation was winding down?

Officer Jamie Beene has since been promoted to Deputy Sargent, in Cherokee County Sheriff's so-called Narcotics Division. As of June 11, 2007 James Q. Beene is a Reserve Cherokee County Deputy by Commissioner Court approval. The Texas Rangers were called to "investigate" the beating of John Brown.

Instead of a reprimand, Officer Beene can pursue a fine career in Cherokee County. Officer Beene and the Cherokee County Sheriff's Department are facing civil rights violation suits filed in Marshall, TX by the Brown family (at the time of writing). Local Cherokee County media refuses to publish the contents of the suit. Instead the Jacksonville Daily Progress promoted the narco-wonder cops by publishing the seizure of 4 "blunts" and 1 oz. of marijuana. Still waiting to be impressed? They also have the glorious pastime of monitoring the dank rooms at the Trade Winds Motel in Jacksonville, TX.

The brutal beating of John Brown by Alto P.D. was also reported by The BrownWatch: News for people of color. Ice Cube gets his fact skewed in this expose but the gist is the same. Beat a black guy up, break his legs while he's hogtied, then charge him for evading arrest. That is the heart and soul of Cherokee County, read it for yourselves.

As a footnote, the Tyler Paper reports on March 29, 2007 that Sgt. Beene has been cleared of the brutality claims. Read the article carefully:

"(Sgt.) Beene was on the property searching for a suspect unrelated to their case and arrested (John) Brown on a charge of interfering with a police investigation. During the arrest, Brown said, his ankle was broken and he was beaten. Several witnesses' statements matched Brown's."
Same article Cherokee County Sheriff James Campbell says:
Officer "Beene was at a high drug trafficking area enforcing the law when Mr. Brown came onto the scene and interfered with his (Sgt. Beene's) job..."

So, according to the federal jury in Marshall, TX and Sheriff James Campbell, if get your ankle broke after being hogtied, because you have the audacity to confront a trespassing Cherokee County deputy, you deserve it. And the best thing to do is stay in your house like a frightened country Negro when you see the spotlights going across your property. Especially if you are black and you own property near a suspected drug drop. And expect to have every single phone call to and from your house to be tape recorded illegally forever.

Rusk City Manager accused of wiretapping; Sheriff Deputy under Texas Rangers investigation

US Attorney Malcolm Bales announces Jacksonville, TX drug raids with Dallas FBI, Sheriff James Campbell, and District Attorney Rachel Patton. (Source: April 1, 2015 Jacksonville Progress)

Like a lot of areas in backwoods East Texas, Cherokee County law enforcement illegally wiretaps and intercepts telephone conversations to conduct drug raids. For providing this information to outside agencies such as the FBI and Narcotics Task Forces, as well as assisting on drug cases for the US Attorney's office, these small towns are given carte blanche access to any and every private citizen's personal and business phone conversations. In fact, they are publicly rewarded for violating federal law like they do in 3rd World countries. They are advised to deny it, lie about it, and continue to provide as much information with as little legwork as possible. 

 

 

 

The Cherokee County Sheriff's Department records phone calls to blackmail political opponents and quash dissent among their Good Ol' Boy and Gal network. They catalog the locals' extramarital affairs within the District Attorney's office and hold each other by the balls for Grand Jury selection. And these folks have been screwing each other like rabbits since their High School days.

Who is cheating on whom these days?

With the ousting of outsider Rachel Patton for ruffling their feathers and with Elmer Beckworth returning to the District Attorney's office in a few weeks, the uninformed public can expect the Night of the Long Knives to come out in full force. When one of them is caught not towing the County line, the fingers start pointing, the accusations start to fly, and the misdirections are set up like traffic cones to mislead the public.  Following in Beckworth's footsteps they blame the other for their own actions.





Wife swapping and wiretapping? Who's spying on whom?



In an open City Council meeting on July 14, 2016 the Rusk Police Department accused longtime Rusk City Manager Mike Murray  of "illegal wiretapping."  Lt. Brad George of the Rusk PD and others also accused Murray of "retaliation against the police force." City council has requested a Texas Rangers investigation during back-to-back closed sessions. (Source: KETK) Murray, the local police department, TDC Skyview, and the Sheriff's Dept. had worked together for decades without dissent. The internal feud is said to have started after the handling of assault charges against the Volunteer Fire Chief earlier this year.  Nepotism between the Cherokee County Sheriff and his son the Rusk Chief of Police, and their extralegal means of small town social control is on full display for the local media.




Clocking in at 300 + lbs., it is highly unlikely Mr. Murray is capable of scaling telephone poles and running outlaw phone drops throughout the county to eavesdrop on local drug dealers, lonely wives, and the families of his political opponents; however Sheriff Campbell's deputies and those related to law enforcement are paid to do so.

Illegal phone tapping in Rusk City Hall

Cherokee County newspapers refuse to mention the reason for the Texas Rangers investigation into Mike Murray and the charge of ILLEGAL PHONE TAPPING that Rachel Patton has recommended to the Texas Attorney General. Instead they focus on a fictitious claim of low morale among the police department and city employees for the reason Murray has been placed on paid administrative leave. (Source: Daily Progress) It takes reports from Tyler and Longview to shine the light on the common Cherokee County practice of "illegally wiretapping phone conversations." (Source: KETK)




OK, boys and girls, let's play a game called "Follow the Logic..."

1. Teenage boys driving around on New Year's Eve amuse themselves by tossing a firecracker near a local fireworks stand operated by the Rusk Volunteer Fire Chief, Donald Lankford.
2. Pissed off Fire Chief jumps in his car and in a high speed chase into neighboring Anderson County, cuts them off several times, pulls them over and roughs up the pranksters.
3. Fire Chief is charged with misdemeanor assault in Anderson County; pranksters are let off with a warning.
4. Fire Chief continues to work at the Rusk, TX Fire Dept. while his case is aired on local television; some reports say he is suspended for 6 months, others say he is still employed. (Source: KETK)
5. A "rift develops" between the City of Rusk Police Department and the City Manager according to some accounts.
6. During an open Rusk City Council session in late July, the Rusk PD accuses City Manager of illegally tape recording phone conversations ; Rusk City Council asks the Texas Rangers to intervene and continues to hold closed door hearings to keep prying eyes out of personal vendettas.

Sources: Jacksonville Progress, KETK.

Break the Law- Keep your TCLEOSE license and your pension.


 

In yet another example of the absence of accountability, veteran Cherokee County Sheriff Deputy Donald Williams is asked to quietly retire July 29, 2016 after the Texas Rangers investigate a June 21st incident in Alto, TX. Unlike in other venues throughout the state, no explanation is given to reporters or required by the locals. In fact, they'll pretend Deputy Williams never even worked there or helped get their cousins elected. Fall housekeeping is in full swing with the Texas Rangers in town to maintain the status quo.

Mother and 11-year old daughter pepper sprayed at Mudstock ATV event

In the Eastern District of Texas, United States District Court

Case 6:12-cv-00071, Janette Vaught and H.Y. a minor v. Cherokee County, Texas, Deputy Donald Williams, Unknown Sheriff’s Deputy, Sheriff James Campbell; and Townsquare Media, LLC

Jacksonville, TX:

The US Eastern District will be considering another civil rights complaint filed by a Smith County resident who attended Jacksonville’s Mudcreek Off-Road Park event in September 2010. Janette Vaught and her 11-year old daughter were pulled from a moving 4-wheeler driven by a third person, and all three kicked and maced by Cherokee County Sheriff Deputies working security at the annual Mudstock event. Participants in the pageant were pre-assigned drivers who paraded couples and family members around the arena. The driver of Ms. Vaught and her daughter’s ATV was David Barlow of Rusk, TX.  Barlow was charged with resisting arrest after the pepper spraying, and recently accepted a deferred adjudication agreement. As Barlow drove around the arena, he apparently failed to quickly respond to the command of Deputy Don Williams as the ATV carrying Ms. Vaught and her daughter approached the event center stage. As a result, Barlow was hauled off to jail that evening and mother and daughter were sent home bruised up with a belly full of mace. Ms. Vaught and her daughter reside in Tyler, TX, the child with relatives.

David Barlow is apparently no stranger to the Cherokee County criminal justice system. With a pending civil rights complaint against them, Barlow could have faced a courtroom of ineligible jurors in their back pockets, or have the district judge sentence him in hopes of quelling his passengers'  civil complaint. The fact is Cherokee County law enforcement knows they can lose their cool and there will be no repercussions for roughing up innocent bystanders and pepper spraying children in the process. Sheriff James Campbell does not reprimand his employees for violating the law and the higher courts will not hold that bunch accountable without a federal jury trial. Hence the US Eastern District's pattern of summarily dismissing civil rights cases across their jurisdiction, before a vetted federal jury can even consider the complaints.

In her complaint, Ms. Vaught is seeking punitive damages against the Cherokee County sheriff department and the radio station that organized of the off-road event. She claims the lack screening of drivers and security, as well as Sheriff James Campbell's departmental policies, lead to her and her daughter's injuries.

As the driver of the all-terrain vehicle approached a stage, police officers grabbed his [Barlow’s] arm and used Mace on the driver and on Vaught and her daughter.

Ms.Vaught further states that she attempted to file a written report with the sheriff regarding the incident but a proper investigation was not conducted.

She claims she was told to contact the FBI.

On behalf of the minor, the plaintiff is seeking damages for emotional trauma, loss of sleep, anxiety, loss of appetite and fear. (Source: Southeast Texas Record, Feb. 27, 2012 Radio station sued after police Mace child at Mudstock event)

Every spectator, vendor and contestant at the event witnessed the arrest of David Barlow and assault of his passengers, but only one media outlet located in Beaumont, TX reported the assaults and original Civil Tort Claim.

Count One: the violation of Ms. Vaught and her daughter’s constitutional right by the reckless behavior of the Cherokee County deputies and their policy in place of pretending that the pepper spraying and kicking of three compliant individuals, including a child, didn’t take place. Even though every single spectator at the stage level eye-witnessed the mother and daughter thrown from the 4-wheeler by deputies kicking David Barlow’s ass. Has any Cherokee County official in recent memory, other than County Attorney Craig Caldwell, ever issued a formal apology for making a mistake? (Source: KETK Jan. 19, 2012, “County Attorney apologizes to KETK”)

By their conduct and the ensuing lack of investigation or disciplinary actions, the Sheriff’s Department obviously endorsed an unwritten policy, practice, and/or custom of indifference to the rights and safety of by standers during arrests and demanding instant compliance despite the fact that the vehicle was still running. The target of the arrest had no weapons, and had apparently done nothing more than, at most, fail to immediately follow the instructions of Deputy Williams. Any reasonable deputy would have made sure the bystanders were safe before undertaking violent actions against someone in such close proximity in a public place.

In Count Two, Ms. Vaught spells out in her complaint the trauma her daughter suffered from a getting a lung full of pepper spray and the child’s loss of appetite and nightmares.

Although Plaintiffs’ injuries to their eyes and respiratory systems were temporary, the same were extremely painful and the effects lingered for several days. Psychologically, the injures were more profound. Plaintiff Vaught sought to hold the Defendant Deputies responsible or at least secure an apology and assurance that this type of behavior would be punished. Instead, she met with official indifference to the assault she and her minor daughter suffered. Having lost her voice, she suffered, and still suffers from physical manifestations of her emotional distress including loss of appetite, loss of sleep, anxiety and stress. Similarly, H.Y. suffered from painful irritation to her eyes, nose, throat, and lungs in addition to headaches. More importantly, she suffered severe emotional trauma and now has a fear/distrust of males in general, and law enforcement and authority figures in particular. Her schoolwork suffered and she experienced loss of sleep, anxiety, and loss of appetite among other psychological symptoms.”

Count Three addresses the Cherokee County deputies’ unlawful assault and battery that in itself was reckless with absolutely no regard to other’s safety or welfare. Such disregard for human life is apparent in the County’s and Sheriff’s policymaking, therefore Ms. Vaught’s complaint shows the deputies’ actions that day meet the approval of Sheriff James Campbell. The fact is the Cherokee County sheriff never apologizes for anything his deputies engage in, whether it is beating those in custody, or his lead investigator caught red handed emailing lies about the Jacksonville police chief. Campbell’s policy of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” has been in effect since the days he and convicted child pornographer Harold 'Bo' Scallon stood watch over the Rusk Youth Center. (Source: Cherokeean Herald, March 3, 1983) The word “accountability” does not exist in Cherokee County lingo.

Count Four holds the Townsquare media organization negligent for hiring incompetent security who put the entire event at risk, as was done during the 2004 Tomato Bowl riot. The city of Jacksonville was forced to settle with those sustaining injuries in that preventable Homecoming football game melee. The Jacksonville Police Department was present during the Mudstock event and offered no assistance according to Janette Vaught’s tort claim. However, she is not suing the city, only members of the Sheriff Department and ATV pageant organizers.

We shall see if the US Eastern District again refuses to hold Cherokee County accountable for its documented and ongoing civil rights violations. We shall see if these homegrown judges find another battered woman and her minor daughter to be Cherokee County’s throw away collateral damage, since an underpaid deputy’s apology is out of the question.

(Source: Case 6:12-cv-00071, Janette Vaught and H.Y. a minor v. Cherokee County, Texas, Deputy Donald Williams, Unknown Sheriff’s Deputy, Sheriff James Campbell, and Townsquare Media, LLC)

Agents of prevarication kiss and make up

Deputy Sheriff sends emails falsely claiming police chief is being sued for sexual harassment; public told to forget about it.

Jacksonville, TX/ Rusk, TX:

For argument’s sake, let’s say a high-ranking deputy with the city of Jacksonville police department sends a slew of anonymous emails to East Texas news agencies asking why they aren’t reporting that Cherokee County Sheriff James Campbell is resigning under the pressure of multiple sexual harassment suits. Cherokee County taxpayers should ask themselves if they would witness a ‘kiss and make up’ scenario between those agencies, as the one we’ve just seen painted last week. (Source: Tyler Paper December 19, 2009) Or for the sake of debate, let’s say a lay citizen bombards news outlets with emails falsely claiming Sheriff Campbell is facing lawsuit after lawsuit for sexual harassment in the workplace. In the case of a private citizen making those types of false claims against Sheriff Campbell or Jacksonville police chief Reece Daniel, then the district attorney himself would crawl out from behind his facade of trustworthiness and beat the drums of prosecution. They all would be crowing from the Rusk courthouse steps about how they would hold that individual and his network of allies criminally accountable. With the local media chiming in to fan the flames of criminal/civil action and to pervert the jury pool.

However, the shoe is on the other foot: The outside world got a tiny glimpse last week into the slanderous and lowlife blackmail methods Cherokee County officials employ against each other and their political counterparts. Agencies that routinely share illegally obtained information and work hand-in-hand violating our constitutional rights make for bad bedfellows when one decides to complain to the Texas Attorney General’s office about the other. Or butt heads and embarrass the district attorney, as Chief Reece Daniel did in May of this year when he petitioned against Elmer Beckworth's handling of the Robert Fox charges. (Source: Jacksonville Daily Progress May 3, 2009)

Sheriff James Campbell’s chief detective Chris White, captain for the Cherokee County sheriff’s department, recently sent anonymous emails to various East Texas news agencies claiming Jacksonville police chief Reece Daniel was resigning under the pressure of five (nonexistent) sexual harassment suits. Chief Daniel responded to the libelous accusations with a statement to the local press that the Jacksonville police department would no longer work alongside the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Department until White was reprimanded or fired. Chief Daniel chooses his words carefully in his response to the Sheriff Department’s emailed accusations:

“Chris White told me he had sent the email in retaliation for me refusing to accept a case that originated in Cherokee County that he wanted my detectives to investigate. This is an extremely paltry reason for a law enforcement officer to get angry over and, in my opinion, violate the law. If he will do this to me knowing all the resources I have at my command then I worry about what he might do to an innocent civilian who makes his angry.”
(Source: KLTV December 14, 2009)

Statements like those can never be retracted, even though Chief Daniel has been counseled to sing Sheriff Campbell’s praises, and ignore the Penal Code statutes he himself cites within his complaint to TCLEOSE and in his response to Chris White’s accusations. Cherokee County taxpayers have the right to know why Sheriff Campbell refuses yet again to hold his deputy’s feet to the fire. Detective White’s actions cannot be undone and his anonymous emails (claiming sexual harassment) leave the recipients in those media outlets scratching their heads. How can Cherokee County’s sheriff continue to employ a deputy who retaliates against a fellow officer? What other dirt and mudslinging does the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Department sanction? We know this latest published episode only scratches the surface. The broader intent of the emails was not only designed to smear Reece Daniel, but to frame someone else for sending the emails actually authored and distributed by a Cherokee County Sheriff’s deputy.

Campbell continues his decades-old pattern of unaccountability, even when his highest ranking deputy is caught red-handed emailing libelous content about a local police chief to news agencies. Campbell hides behind his department’s taxpayer supplied attorney rather than acknowledging his own deputy’s guilt. Sheriff Campbell’s statements deny knowledge of the emails’ “content,” but he surely knows his deputy White’s actions are rogue to say the least. (Source: KLTV December 14, 2009)

Instead of hiding behind his lawyers and saying that he knew nothing of the emails’ content, Sheriff Campbell could have taken the honorable route the day Chief Daniel responded to his accusers. Campbell could have made a simple statement that he would not tolerate this level of crap out of any of his employees. Despite the thousands of wasted taxpayers’ dollars and hours he and the Cherokee County newspapers have spent crooning about the county's highest paid Deputy Sheriff. Campbell chose to play word games that he was "unaware" of anything while he remained hidden from comment.

City and County lawyers warn Chief Daniel ‘not to go there’ by pointing out repeatedly that one female employed with the Jacksonville Police Department made one accusation of sexual harassment against the chief in the past. Which resulted in her prompt promotion out of the field and into a higher paying position within Cherokee County law enforcement (thanks to a deal brokered by the current city of Jacksonville attorney). Sources: Jacksonville Daily Progress and Cherokeean Herald December 16, 2009

And they top off yet another of Cherokee County’s notorious lies that the emails are a result of a “personal conflict” between Detective White and Chief Daniel. Then why the use of both a county attorney and the city of Jacksonville attorney for a private pissing match? Sheriff Campbell cannot make a statement to his constituents without an attorney looking over his shoulders and writing his unapologetic smokescreens. These are the questions the local media should be asking before closing the book on this latest installment of sexual blackmail, Cherokee County style. The pattern of unethical behavior is not over; it will continue as long as these people hold office.

There is enough criminal activity and dirt to spread around, so if these guys want to keep their jobs, it is apparent that in their minds, they had better stick together. They will have to continue to feign solidarity during intrajurisdictional disputes and target the innocent people Chief Daniel refers to in his statement. Hopefully, they believe, this sordid little story during the Christmas holidays will disappear from the evening news.

Chief Detective Chris White’s libelous emails about Reece Daniel are not only unethical, they shed light into the modus operandi that has been going on for decades in Cherokee County. Too many of these current public officials are bought and owned by these sexual harassment/ blackmail techniques. A thorough Spring house cleaning is long overdue. Get rid of these corrupt parasites at election or continue to have your taxpayer dollars lining their attorneys’ pockets. Or you can continue to support the vermin while they pay each other off with your hard earned tax dollars. You have just witnessed a microcosm of their unethical universe: a salaried deputy sheriff sending anonymous and inflammatory emails on a County computer in order to deflect media attention onto the police chief of Jacksonville. With the intention of blaming someone else for it until his IP address was traced.

Merry Christmas Cherokee County and have a blessed New Year. The March primaries are right around the corner; vote the prevaricators and provocateurs out. It is time to bring some semblance of honor into your public offices. Next month we will discuss the case of 35-year veteran Cherokee County employee and true friend of the courthouse Carl Phillips, the director of the Cherokee County Supervision and Corrections Department. Phillips was recently indicted for theft of services and allegedly tampering with government records while head of Adult Probation. (Source: Tyler Paper December 17, 2009)

Rusk TX police officer rapes Rusk ISD student while Alto, TX Postmaster steals $27,000 from local Post Office. Rusk TX teacher indicted on child porn.

Rusk Texas: 
City of Rusk TX police officer, and former Cherokee County Sheriff Department jailer,  Christopher "Chris" Michael Hennessy was handed a 10 year probation sentence by Cherokee County TX District Attorney Elmer C. Beckworth, Jr. in 2004 after Hennessy sexually assaulted a female 15-year-old Rusk ISD student. Officer Hennessy absconded his Sex Offender Registration after later being charged with distribution of crystal meth and unauthorized use of a motor, according to a February 28, 2008 article in the Jacksonville Daily Progress. Rusk TX officer Chris Hennessy was also under investigation by the ATF for possession of explosives.

Officer Christopher Michael Hennessy was apprehended in Houston, TX by the US Marshals Service on Wednesday February 27, 2008. Hennessy had been working in the Houston area under an assumed name.

Cherokee County Texas Criminal Docket; Case 16121:
Indecency/Sexual Assault of Child-Felony THE STATE OF TEXAS vs HENNESSY, CHRISTOPHER MICHAEL Filed 05/23/2005 - Disposition: 11/17/2005 Deferred adjudication 2nd District Court, District Clerk, Cherokee County TX. And Criminal Docket Case 16681; Case 16682 in the 2nd District Court, Cherokee County, TX.

Obviously Hennessy's deferred adjudication wasn't good enough for the rogue officer; deferred adjudication is a plea bargain agreement, as it is defined, that is not an formal guilty plea and is NOT a conviction. The charge remains on the defendant's record, however all licensing, bonding and law enforcement, i.e. political affiliations remain untarnished if probation is served (or reduced by a sympathetic district judge).

Christopher Hennessy (Courtesy DPS)

Hennessy refused his Sex Offender Registration in Cherokee County, TX and violated his slap-on-the-wrist probation. The Cherokee County district judge would have terminated his probation; however Hennessy would have to first register as a Sex Offender. Officer Hennessy was 24 in 2004. Elmer Beckworth believed Officer's Hennessy's reputation was more valuable than the raped 15-year-old Rusk Jr. High student by offering DEFERRED ADJUDICATION probation. Of course, the Cherokee County District Attorney is not held accountable in the local media for any of the COLLATERAL CONSEQUENCES of Chris Hennessy's plea bargain; allowing Hennessy to continue the crystal meth trafficking into Beckworth's hometown, possible bomb making and who knows what else before Officer Hennessy was nabbed by the Gulf Coast Violent Offenders Task Force.  

Alto Texas: US Postmaster Herbert Michael Dominguez located in the tiny Alto, TX post office stole $27,000 worth of postage stamps and federal money orders, converting them into his own personal use. Similarly Dominguez's indictment and crime was not reported by any Cherokee County Texas newspaper. It took the Tyler Texas paper to report the local indictment of Postmaster Dominquez in its February 27, 2008 issue. Dominguez had been being paying most of the stolen money back in restitution. U.S. Federal District Judge Michael Schneider in Tyler TX gave the thieving Postal Service agent 1 year adjudicated probation.



What do these cases have in common? A Rusk TX police officer who molested a Jr. High girl and an unsupervised Postmaster in Alto TX both received deferred adjudicated probation for their crimes, both State and Federal. Both get to keep their TCLEOSE licenses and government pensions. Probation given in order to keep the sordid mess under wraps. Even after raping the coffers and thus taxpayers of their most precious commodity: their children and their privacy.

 Criminal activity within Cherokee County's post offices has been documented for years. In August 1997, DPS officer Joe Don Abernathy was lucky enough to have DWI and unlawful discharge of a weapon charges dismissed after an employee in the Rusk Texas post office smashed his vial of blood on it way to the Garland, TX DPS lab for alcohol tests.


 Aug. 21, 1997 Cherokeean Herald p.1

  
Aug. 21, 1997 Cherokeean Herald p. 10A

A local Rusk TX woman named Linda Lanier had filed a complaint against Trooper Joe Don Abernathy in Feb. 1997 after Abernathy had chased the Lanier family down the back roads of Hwy. 84 in the middle of the night. The complaint stated the off duty trooper had shot at the Lanier family vehicle, on their way back from Boosier City, LA. The Rusk PD arrested Abernathy on U.S. 69 and found rifles, a shotgun and beer cans in Abernathy's pickup. Abernathy requested a blood sample be drawn in lieu of a breathalyzer, and the sample was literally dropped off in the mail. The test tube containing the DUI arrest evidence was destroyed by the Rusk TX Postal Service.

A common tactic observed with the roles have been reversed and a DPS officer cites a Cherokee County deputy for DUI. And of course the Cherokee County TX District Attorney's office never took Abernathy's "deadly conduct" case in front of a grand jury. Trooper Joe Don Abernathy accepted Cherokee County's County Attorney's offer of reckless driving as was placed on minimal adjudicated probation. The horror the Lanier family endured the night of Feb. 9, 1997 has been long forgotten. Trooper Joe Abernathy presently works as a Senior Recruiter for the DPS office in Tyler, TX. In 2012, Trooper Joe Don Abernathy crashed his patrol car after a night of heavy drinking according to the Tyler Paper. The DPS pulled a blood draw showing over an alcohol level of 0.16 which is twice the legal limit. (Courtesy Tyler Paper).

Trooper who said he swerved to avoid a deer arrested for DWI

BY KENNETH DEAN

A former Texas Department of Public Safety trooper, who told his coworkers he wrecked his patrol car earlier this month while trying to avoid a deer, has been arrested for driving while intoxicated and resigned his position as a result of the investigation into the accident. Joe Don Abernathy, 61, turned himself into authorities Monday and posted a $1,000 bond on the misdemeanor charge, according to judicial records.

Abernathy, who reportedly was on his way to work the morning of the accident, wrecked the 2008 Ford Crown Victoria he was assigned about 7:20 a.m. Nov. 5 on County Road 2120, about a half-mile west of County Road 262. According to a DPS accident report, Abernathy said he was driving when a deer ran out in front of him, and he took evasive action to avoid hitting the animal. The Tyler Morning Telegraph asked for video of the deer crossing the road the morning of the accident but was told the DPS video system does not record until the overhead emergency lights have been activated.

The DPS report by Investigator David Anthony shows Abernathy swerved to the right, went off the road, across into oncoming traffic and then back off the right side of the roadway where he struck several trees. According to the arrest affidavit in the case, Abernathy had a strong odor of alcohol on his person. However, because he was injured, Abernathy was taken to Mother Frances Hospital for treatment, where doctors also took his blood for testing. The DPS crash report indicates Abernathy's blood alcohol level was 0.16, which is twice the legal limit.

Smith County District Attorney Matt Bingham said he was notified early in the investigation and told by troopers on the scene that they would be having Abernathy's blood drawn for testing. “DPS has been very cooperative from the onset of the investigation, and they have said they will give my office any and all records with Abernathy. It's very unfortunate that something like this can stain the reputation of all of these troopers, but he will be treated like everyone else,” he said. Bingham said he is looking at a possible earlier incident involving Abernathy where a blood vial had been destroyed. “There was an earlier case involving Abernathy and a blood vial being destroyed somehow, but that was in another county outside Smith County and had nothing to do with the DPS. It was an entirely different agency,” he said.

Tom Vinger, DPS media representative in Austin, said Monday that Abernathy had tendered his resignation the day after the accident earlier this month. Vinger confirmed that Abernathy was en route to work when the accident occurred. Vinger would not say what Abernathy's position at the Tyler DPS was before the accident or whether he was a patrol trooper or assigned to a desk.

Bingham said troopers worked Abernathy's case like a felony case instead of a misdemeanor. “They did a full traffic reconstruction with their crew, which is usually only for fatalities and felony cases, so DPS went above what they usually do for a misdemeanor. He will be treated like anyone else in this case, because there is no special treatment,” he said.

 DPS Trooper Joe Don Abernathy  

Rusk, TX: The personal use of public works by those assigned to protect and serve Cherokee County Texas has been covered up for decades. In a 1995 Cherokeean Herald article, Cherokee County Sheriff James Campbell denied his deputies partake in monitoring and recording inmates' jailhouse pay phone calls. Complete with an incredulous and concocted story on fictitious inmates crank calling witnesses from their cellblocks.

June 1, 1995 Cherokeean Herald p.1

Houston Chronicle article on jailhouse eavesdropping:

Jan. 5, 2002 Houston Chronicle article from the AP highlights the State's TDCJ policy of listening in and recording all jail inmates' conversations, as a required duty performed by all Texas penal systems -and those like Sheriff James Campbell who are charged with doing so. In 1998 the TDCJ policy altered to allow privacy between inmates' phone calls and their attorney-client privileges. That policy has certainly been ignored by the Cherokee County Sheriff Department and District Attorney's office.  Cherokee County  also tells its citizens the Sheriff Department does not record its DETCOG established 911 calls either.

 

 Jan. 5, 2002 Houston Chronicle p.39A

The June 5, 1995 Cherokeean article citing the "telephone harassment" of bored Cherokee County inmates and how the poor Sheriff can't "listen in" and put a stop to it - why that is a sharp contrast to the 12th Court of Appeals affirmation of one inmate's recent threatening phone call to his wife. The case Kevin Wade Conner v. The State of Texas--Appeal from County Court at Law of Cherokee County was heard in Tyler on February 29, 2008 based upon the  'Dial H for Harassment'  scenario that actually took place.  

Kevin Conner was arrested in 2006 for public intoxication and during his one phone call to his wife, threatened to beat her up. Conner was subsequently charged with telephone harassment and the audio tape recorded phone conversation admitted into evidence at his trial, Cherokee County Court at Law (trial court case # 45,593). Kevin Conner's attorney filed an appeal in Tyler, refer to Case # 12-06-00311-CR, filed on 8/26/2006 in the 12th Court of Appeals, challenging the legality of tape recording the plaintiff's phone call and admitting it into evidence.  The opinion states:

"The erroneous admission of the recording in question is nonconstitutional error. See King, 953 S.W.2d at 271. "Nonconstitutional" error that does not affect the substantial rights of the defendant must be disregarded. TEX. R. APP. P. 44.2(b). Such an error does not warrant reversal unless it had a substantial and injurious effect or influence in determining the jury’s verdict. See King, 953 S.W.2d at 271."

Note the Justices' made up word "Non-constitutional" that applies to Cherokee County phone tapping.

The 12th Court of Appeals doesn't get into the messy legality question as to whether it is legal or unconstitutional (nonconstitutional error / admission of egregious evidence, i.e. illegally gained evidence) to record jailhouse phone conversations. The deputy testified he "overheard" the threats that were decided not to be just "hearsay."  And the Texas penal system allows jails to monitor the inmate accessible pay phones. That was good enough to admit the audio recording into evidence and convict Kevin Conner with "telephone harassment" based on the testimony of an eavesdropping deputy.

Even though Sheriff James Campbell told the local newspapers in 1995 that the "law prohibits my deputies to listen in on" jailhouse phone calls. The Appellate Court says in 2008 recording and monitoring the Cherokee County Sheriff Department's phone calls are "pursuant to the jail’s standard policy, the call was recorded without notice to either Appellant [Kevin Conner] or Conner [his wife]."

 

June 1, 1995 Cherokeean Herald p.1

Wiretaps in the Liberty County TX courthouse, circa 2001:

Similarly, in 2001 Liberty County Texas Constable Craig Houghton  and Liberty Courthouse maintenance chief Thomas Neal Williford pleaded guilty to illegally wiretapping the courthouse telephones. County Commissioner Pct. 4  Toby Wilburn allegedly provided recording devices for Williford, et al to place on the phone lines of political adversaries within the courthouse.

Constable Craig Houghton and Thomas Williford both were sent to 3 months in prison, and Commissioner Wilburn was acquitted in Nov. 2001 on wiretapping. Commissioner Wilburn claimed Constable Houghton had obtained a warrant from the court; the local jury bought the explanation of providing the phone surveillance equipment. Despite the fact that only the Department of Public Safety, the Texas Rangers and the FBI are the only entities that can legally monitor phone lines.

Prisons and jails are required to monitor inmates' calls and terminate the surveillance during conversations with their attorneys. Constable Houghton and Thomas Williford were sentenced to 3 months federal prison and 2 years probation according to the Houston Chronicle. Both claimed the illegal phone taps were installed to "rid the courthouse of theft and corruption."  

Rusk Texas:

Longtime Rusk Texas ISD drama teacher Harold Earl “Bo” Scallon was indicted by a Federal grand jury in Tyler on Tuesday March 4, 2008 for possession and distribution of child pornography. The FBI raided the home of Harold Scallon in Jacksonville in July 2007 on a federal warrant based on a tip and ongoing investigation by the Longview TX police department. Scallon’s computer was seized, and alleged to contain illegal images of children engaged in sex. The Rusk Texas drama coach faces 20 years federal prison and fines for each count of distribution of child porn.

 
Rusk Texas teacher H.E. "Bo" Scallon

According to a March 5, 2008 Tyler Paper article, federal prosecutors and the Rusk ISD superintendent's office refused to acknowledge that Harold "Bo" Scallon was employed in the drama department up until the time he was indicted in federal court for possession and distribution of child pornography. Local newspaper deliberately refer to the theater teacher as "former" and "EX-teacher" even though Harold Scallon never formerly retired from the Rusk Texas school district. Conflicting dates of the alleged cyber crime are being reported. 2007 Rusk ISD Valedictorian Kinsey Gresham acknowledged Mr. Scallon's presence in his students' and fellow faculty members'  lives during her June 2007 graduation speech. "Bo" Scallon had worked over 30 years for the Rusk Texas Independent School District. He also monitored the Rusk Youth Center Swimming Pool with Sheriff James Campbell and others.

 

In March 2007 another Rusk Texas and former Jacksonville ISD teacher, Social Studies' Brian Edward Basse, was indicted for indecency with a minor, i.e. one of his 16-year old students. (KLTV) Basse was sentenced to 3 years in prison for indecency with a child and the illegal student/teacher relationship (Daily Progress). He is a lifetime registered sex offender.

 
Brian Basse, courtsey DPS

Out of county company representatives and those seeking open-records in the Cherokee County Texas courthouse may have experienced the frequent violation of the Texas Public Information Act. That is those requesting court records having to sign waivers or being asked for their own personal information before the court employee provides the requested documents. An article in the Dec. 30, 2002 Houston Chronicle titled "East Texas public data often elusive" shows East Texas law agencies were the least helpful and most confrontational when it came to providing citizens access to open records.

County governments out of a 14 county survey conducted over a 4 month period in 2002, where shown to be cooperative in complying with the State's open records laws. However, East Texas sheriff or police departments "resisted producing records 68% of the time" and complied with the State's timeline for requests only 38% of the time. One researcher from the journalism department of UT Tyler was told she had to "earn the right to see documents see requested." This is, unfortunately, the majority mindset of East Texan law enforcement. The Public Information Act states that any and all information regarding an arrest record and the name of the complainant are to be made available to the inquiring public. Texas law enforcement records are not exempt from public disclosure. Nor are property records at the Cherokee County courthouse.




Companies contemplating setting up operations in greater East Texas should consider the light sentencing for sexual assault of a minor by police officers, embezzlement of postal services and city government funds, road rage by a repeat drunken veteran DPS officer and the bonafide illegal wiretapping of constables and commissioners. The articles may be hidden in the news archives and the back of the minds of the residents; however they are the forefront of daily operations in Counties steeped in corruption.

The disparate sentencing of minorities versus law enforcement caught red-handed and judgments against national companies should be thoroughly investigated by any business testing the job market in Cherokee County Texas. Company business calls will be intercepted, company mail rifled through by post office employees, their profits stolen via lawsuits and most importantly their children will be at risk from Cherokee County's Rogues Gallery of child molesters enjoying their commuted probation.

As an April 29, 2007 Houston Chronicle article published by the Seattle Post titled "Civil Rights investigations decline as focus for FBI" states: for federal agencies keeping watch over rogue police officers, there has been in the last 5 years a 2/3rds drop in investigations of abusive police officers and hate crime purveyors. "You're going to have officers getting away with, in some cases, literally murder." Especially in East Texas where victims are portrayed as "nutcases" and/or transient drug addicts by the local media. And their stories buried with their remains in a nearby National Forest.

Cherokee County Texas Deputy beats handcuffed black man; Cleared of excessive force

Alto, TX:
Cherokee County's Sheriff Department faced another civil rights lawsuit after Deputy Jamie Beene broke the ankle of former Alto high school football player John Brown for no legal reason.

Brown lives in the small town of Alto, and unfortunately was born black in East Texas. With nothing better to do on a quiet Spring night in the piney woods, Officer Jamie Beene spotlighted the property of John Brown's grandfather, ostensibly viewing an ongoing drug deal on the side of the road.
Even Sheriff James Campbell stands by his deputy's strange story, that John Brown was evading arrest, even though he was knocked down, handcuffed and bound, then his ankle shattered (requiring 3 plates and 16 pins).
Whodunit?:
Cherokee County's rising star Officer James Q. "Jamie" Beene, then patrolling the pocket change drug dealers in a rural area south of Alto, TX called the "Dope Tree." No mention of the fact that officer Beene was trespasing on private property. I guess the drug dealers went inside for a snack. Cherokee County District Attorney Elmer Beckworth offered to charge John Brown with something, like interfering with an "official investigation" according to the aforementioned news article. Sheriff Campbell repeated the story that Brown somehow "attacked" his deputy, even though Brown was hogtied at gunpoint. Elmer Beckworth offers no comment, and no real investigation, a' la his handling of Jennifer Hester being run down in her apartment complex.
The FACTS:
Officer Jamie Beene traveled out of his jurisdiction to the home of John Brown about 2 km south of Alto, TX. After seeing trespassers on his property in the middle of the night, John Brown goes out to check on his dogs. He was then jumped, handcuffed and beaten by officer Jamie Beene, along with members of Alto P.D. about 2 km out of Alto, TX jurisdiction, according to the news articles. John Brown's ankle was broken in the process. Why? What was the motive for this obvious racially motivated attack? Was it that his adjudicated probation was winding down?
Officer Jamie Beene has since been promoted to Deputy Sargeant, in Cherokee County Sheriff's so-called Narcotics Division. As of June 11, 2007 James Q. Beene is a Reserve Cherokee County Deputy by Commissioner Court approval. The Texas Rangers were called to "investigate" the beating of John Brown.
Instead of a reprimand, Officer Beene can pursue a fine career in Cherokee County. Officer Beene and the Cherokee County Sheriff's Department are facing civil rights violation suits filed in Marshall, TX by the Brown family (at the time of writing). Local Cherokee County media refuses to publish the contents of the suit. Instead the Jacksonville Daily Progress promoted the narco-wonder cops by publishing the seizure of 4 "blunts" and 1 oz. of marijuana. Still waiting to be impressed? They also have the glorious pastime of monitoring the dank rooms at the Trade Winds Motel in Jacksonville, TX.
The brutal beating of John Brown by Alto P.D. was also reported by The BrownWatch: News for people of color. Ice Cube gets his fact skewed in this expose but the gist is the same. Beat a black guy up, break his legs while he's hogtied, then charge him for evading arrest. That is the heart and soul of Cherokee County, read it for yourselves.
As a footnote, the Tyler Paper reports on March 29, 2007 that Sgt. Beene has been cleared of the brutality claims. Read the article carefully:
"(Sgt.) Beene was on the property searching for a suspect unrelated to their case and arrested (John) Brown on a charge of interfering with a police investigation. During the arrest, Brown said, his ankle was broken and he was beaten. Several witnesses' statements matched Brown's."
Same article Cherokee County Sheriff James Campbell says:
Officer "Beene was at a high drug trafficking area enforcing the law when Mr. Brown came onto the scene and interfered with his (Sgt. Beene's) job..."

So, according to the federal jury in Marshall, TX and Sheriff James Campbell, if get your ankle broke after being hogtied, because you have the audacity to confront a trespassing Cherokee County deputy, you deserve it. And the best thing to do is stay in your house like a frightened country Negro when you see the spotlights going across your property. Especially if you are black and you own property near a suspected drug drop. And expect to have every single phone call to and from your house to be tape recorded illegally forever.