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Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Sheriffs that go bad



One of the most powerful positions in Texas is the county sheriff. I've been doing research for a project I'm working on about corrupt lawmen. Some of the stories are as frightening as anything a Hollywood scriptwriter could dream up.

Norman Hooten was the well liked, respected sheriff of Kinney County (Brackettville)when he was arrested in 1994 at a pit bull fight in Bastrop. When the investigators swooped in, Hooten ran off into the woods in the middle of the night. The next day, he told reporters that he thought he was going to a dog show. He didn't explain why he was advertising fighting pit bulls for sale. He was indicted by the feds on other corruption charges, and famous Texas Ranger Joachim Jackson testified as a character witness. Which supports a theory of mine, that the Rangers generally look out for local law enforcement when they get jammed up.

The same year, Kimble County (Junction) Sheriff Hal Bynum and his wife died in a bizarre case officially classified as a murder-suicide. The sheriff claimed he found his wife's naked body outside the pen where they kept a Rottweiler. She had been bound, tortured, and stabbed to death. Although Bynum was the only suspect, the investigators didn't take him into custody or search the house. The next day his body was found at a remote airstrip used by drug planes, dead from a pointblank shotgun blast to the chest. The case was closed without further investigation. The conclusion was that the sheriff murdered his wife in a jealous rage over her affair with a drug pilot, then killed himself.

People in Kimble County won't talk about it.

I googled "sheriff indicted," and here are just a few of the hits I got:

Feds probe drug task force in south Texas
The police officer sons of two south Texas law enforcement chiefs who made fighting corruption the cornerstones of their careers have been taken into custody on suspicion of waylaying drug caches coming across the border from Mexico.

Federal agents investigating several border departments west and south of McAllen arrested Jonathan Treviño, the son of Lupe Treviño, sheriff of Hidalgo County, and Alexis Espinoza, the son of Rodolfo Espinoza, Hidalgo’s police chief, the McAllen Monitor is reporting.


Former sheriff’s captain indicted for sexual assault
An Erath County grand jury has indicted Terrell Dickerson, a former captain with the Erath County Sheriff’s Office, on charges of sexual assault.
The grand jury met Tuesday morning to hear the case before issuing the indictment, according to Hood County District Attorney Rob Christian, who will serve as the special prosecutor.
Dickerson is accused of sexually assaulting a female co-worker inside a closet at the sheriff's department. He is being represented by Stephenville attorney Shay Isham.

Sheriff arrested on sex charge bonds out of jail
SHELBY Co., Ohio (WDTN) - The Shelby County, Ohio Sheriff was arrested after being indicted Sept. 20 by an Auglaize County grand jury.

Dean Kimpel, 57, was arrested Wednesday morning on a charge of sexual battery. The charge carries a penalty of up to 5 years in prison.

The indictment follows allegations by a former Shelby County Sheriff's Deputy Jodi Van Fossen. Van Fossen claimed that on July 24, 2010 Kimpel sexually assaulted her at her home in Auglaize County.

Former Early County Sheriff's investigator indicted
BLAKELY, Ga. -- A former Early County Sheriff's Investigator and the son of Early County Sheriff Jimmie Murkerson, has been indicted in federal court for extortion and lying to FBI agents in connection to purchase of anabolic steroids, court documents show.

#Jarrod (J.D.) Murkerson was released on a $10,000 bond following an initial court appearance Friday in U.S. District Court in Albany. An arraignment has been set for 10 a.m. Thursday before U.S. Magistrate Tommy Langstaff.

McHenry County Sheriff's Deputy Indicted On Sexual Assault Charges
A McHenry County Sheriff's Deputy faces federal charges for committing sexual acts to a child under 12 years old.

Gregory Pyle, 37, was arrested last month, but a grand jury indicted him today at the federal courthouse downtown.

SAPD sergeants indicted in wake of bizarre wreck
A former police sergeant accused of being high on cocaine when he was found wearing just boxers and a T-shirt after his city-owned pickup was wrecked on U.S. 281 has been indicted in connection with the incident.
Former Sgt. Joseph Myers, 52, was one of two sergeants charged with tampering with evidence from the Feb. 2 incident.


Read more: http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/article/SAPD-sergeants-indicted-in-wake-of-bizarre-wreck-4132217.php#ixzz2FazsJ8g2

Read more: http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/article/SAPD-sergeants-indicted-in-wake-of-bizarre-wreck-4132217.php#ixzz2FazU5UfU

4 comments:

  1. I too have watched may Texas Sheriffs go bad over the years, and I can tell it is generally over money. The most common issues generally revolve around the bail bond business, like in Bandera, Starr, and many other Texas Counties.

    When there is smoke, there is generally fire.

    More to come on this subject.

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  2. And who could forget Sheriff Falcon of Starr County. This is my pick for the all time greatest, and it started with Bail Bonds.

    Step 1) Find the biggest bail bond company in the County

    Step 2) File and open records request to see if the subject company has paid a bond forfeiture in the last five years

    Step 3) Go to the Sheriff or bail bond board and make inquiry about starting a new bonding agency and ask what the financial requirements are. If the Sheriff give you some BS about posting a huge amount of cash and then deducting 100% of the bonds as they are written, then consider this "smoke"....hmmmmm...sounds like Kerr County.

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  3. Yesterday I was having breakfast with some friends in SE Asia, and as it generally does in this circle, the discussion turned to revolution, propaganda and America. The subject of discussion was the protests in Delhi and the way in which the American press has presented this story to its readers. I was holding an English version of the Bangkok Post, which showed a photo of rioters confronting police, while CNN showed an angry crowd holding signs which read “hang the rapists”. The message Americans are getting is the protests are over rape. While this is partially true, the American press avoids the real nature of the riots, which is direct confrontation with the police over oppression of the underclass. In India, the police protect the wealthy while heavily policing and fining the powerless. The people have had enough and they are taking it to the police, prosecutors and judges. Taking it directly to them. Yes America and Kerrville, you can do this too by peaceful and legal means. The American press does not want to show images of the underclass coming after the police, as it may plant ideas in the minds of the powerless in America. This is propaganda by omission.

    I stepped into municipal court in Kerrville one morning and I saw a courtroom full of poor people. The rich and powerful get away with a warning or are never pulled over in the first place. White collar crime is totally ignored. The Kerrville police are looking more and more like military or just thugs. They wear black uniforms and combat boots and military style pants. They milk $ out of the community with high priced fines, probation fees…etc. There will come a day when the people have had enough and it will come in an instant, just like India.

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    Replies
    1. We are having a debate over guns - yet again - after another slaughter. It will die down pretty soon, but what if it doesn't? I have two guns. I have what I call a "small gun" for a common thug breaking into my house. It is 38 cal six-shooter. Then I have what I call my "big gun". This gun is for the government violating my civil rights and attacking my house. Either way I consider it self-defense. I don't violate the law, and I expect no less from the Federal Government. As a child a vividly remember seeing films of Jews in Germany getting in line and walking into gas chambers to be gassed to death. This by the authority of the German government. Why did they allow themselves to be arrested in the first place? Maybe the reason was that they had no viable means of self defense - NO GUNS to fight back with? Our government killed somewhere between 300,000 and 500,000 (mostly women and children) in the first Iraq war. Two hundred missions a day for forty days. The Iraq soldiers were on the perimeter of the city - not in the city? Our government killed and otherwise destroyed the lives of hundreds of thousands of civilians by dropping atom bombs on defenseless cities full of women and children. If anyone believes that those bombs were primarily used to end the war and save American lives, then you must also believe that unicorns crap rainbows. Our government dropped those bombs to show the Russians what the USA was capable of doing - and everybody cheered! Why would anyone trust a government that is that far off the scale of common "right and wrong". Why don't we all just turn our guns in to the Feds. I am sure they would put them to good use by selling them to the Mexican Drug Cartels.

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