07.20.06
AusChron On Gary Griffin Lawsuit
It’s an excellent roundup of the hearing last Friday, WilCo Lawsuit. Amazing again how it makes our county officials look, not to mention the judge.
The potentially landmark case had disconcertingly humble beginnings on Friday. The first words out of Clawson’s mouth were that this was a temporary injunction hearing - not a request for summary judgment. “My heart sank,” Aleshire said, at Clawson’s mistake. If Clawson was absentminded, County Attorney Jana Duty appeared virtually indifferent; throughout the proceedings she was mute, often staring at the ceiling, and leaving the county’s defense to its hired guns. Clawson sided with the county down the line, essentially ruling that commissioners courts are due greater legal deference than district courts, though Aleshire had argued adamantly to the contrary. When Aleshire asked why Clawson refused to grant a single objection listed in Griffin’s response to the county’s motion, the judge responded, “I don’t want to do the 3rd Court’s work for them,” adding cryptically, “I’ve lost all sympathy for those guys.” Aleshire said that deference is normally owed the plaintiff’s case in a summary judgment hearing, with the presumption that in most instances the complaint at least deserves a hearing. Clawson ruled otherwise.
“Old West” references always work so well when discussing Williamson County officials. Haven’t seen this picked up by any of the county media online, WCSun is not online. If it wasn’t for the AusChron and the AAS it would be out-of-sight-out-of-mind.
Eye on Williamson » The Continuing Saga Of Williamson County vs. Constable Griffin said,
December 21, 2006 at 9:49 am
[…] The AusChron has done an excellent job of keeping up with all the twists and turns in this story. Here’s the latest, WilCo Constable Lawsuit: Crying wolf … and mayhem. It’s amazing that the Williamson County government can’t just admit they made a mistake in this case and move on. They are now trying to say that the records Constable Griffin used to prove his case were, 911 logs, violated privacy laws: Williamson County’s courthouse dogs are at it again. This time, they’re barking a threat that Precinct 1 Constable Gary Griffin may have broken the law by including mental-health-call-related 911 logs as evidence in his civil case against the county, an action County Attorney Jana Duty is alleging violates privacy laws and the Texas Public Information Act. […]
Eye on Williamson » The Silly Season Is Upon Us - The WCGOP Machine Makes It’s Choice said,
February 11, 2008 at 2:01 pm
[…] has since filed a lawsuit against the county over the constitutionality of having his budget cut by the Commissioner’s […]