I told you earlier that it had been a good week for Louis Guthrie. In addition to winning the poll taken after the Harris County DA Debate this past Thursday, Mr. Guthrie finally sees a light at the end of the dark tunnel that current Harris County Sheriff Adrian Garcia put him in for the past three years. Judge Caroline Baker (a great person, btw) overturned the decision of the Civil Service Commission that upheld Guthrie’s politically motivated firing.

 

Press release from Louis Guthrie:

Following a bench trial in District Court, Louis Guthrie was vindicated, and the Sheriff’s Civil Service Commission’s decision to uphold his firing was set aside and the case remanded for proceedings consistent with the Court’s Order. What does that mean? It means that after the Court found the Civil Service Commission, and vis-à-vis the Sheriff, had violated the Texas Government Code, the decision in violation of State Law was set aside. Louis should get his job back along with back pay and benefits.

The trial was confined to the record of the Commission’s hearing on May 12, 2010. In that trial, all the Sheriff’s Office’s warts were revealed; Major Silvio admitting one of Guthrie’s alleged violations of policy was in fact the accepted policy and practice of the Department, (This was the same Major Silvio who had previously testified in another hearing that he could not name any violations of policy by Louis Guthrie), the misrepresentations of law by the County Attorney to the Commission, and unbelievably, the concealing of evidence.

The concealing of evidence was probably the most disturbing thing the Court heard. Not only were audio interviews of witnesses hidden, but video recovered from the scene was not even mentioned in the report. When asked why he hid evidence in this matter, the handpicked Internal Affairs Investigator testified under oath, “There wasn’t anything on there that would indicate that Mr. Guthrie did anything wrong.” Translation: The decision to fire him has been made and we don’t want to present evidence that shows he did nothing wrong. Had this concealing of evidence occurred in a criminal case, the investigator could be charged with a 3rd degree felony.

After showing repeated violations by the Sheriff’s Office and the Civil Service Commission of their own rules, state law, and the U.S. Constitution, Guthrie’s attorney John Denholm told the Court, at some point the law has to mean something.

Because the Commission’s decision was to uphold the Sheriff’s illegal firing of Guthrie was clearly in violation of the law, the case returns to the Civil Service Commission, which should order Louis Guthrie’s reinstatement with back pay and benefits. That is if they follow the law….

If they follow the law. I don’t know if the Civil Service Commission members are the same as last time or not. But if they are, I have no doubt that Martha Wong will do the right thing and reinstate Mr. Guthrie with full back pay. I’d venture to say that if the Sheriff’s department hadn’t withheld evidence the first time, Martha would have ruled in Mr. Guthrie’s favor. This witch-hunt has hurt the Guthrie family financially and emotionally – while the emotions will take time to heal, there should be no delay in restoring his family financially. Plus, giving him his job back now would give him a leg up when he moves to the big office after booting Garcia in November.

Hopefully, Judge Baker’s ruling will stop Mr. Guthrie’s opponents from using his bogus firing against him: they have been using it throughout the primary season. We will get a chance to see their true character – will they spread the word of his vindication? Or will they act the same as the media and ignore Judge Baker’s ruling?

Website: LouisGuthrie.com

Facebook: VoteGuthrie