LatinoJustice, Kirkland & Ellis, & Webber Law Celebrate Victory in Case Against Hays County
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PRESS RELEASE
October 23, 2024
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LatinoJustice, Kirkland & Ellis, & Webber Law Celebrate Victory in Case Against Hays County
Hays County Improperly Deleted Key Footage of Assault by Corrections Officer
Austin, TX - A judge for the US District Court for the Western District of Texas has recommended that the Hays County Jail be sanctioned for deleting video footage of an assault by a corrections officer in the case of Salvador Sanchez v. C.O. Thomas, et al. .
US Magistrate Judge Dustin M. Howell found that Sanchez’s jail grievances reporting the assault “put Defendants on notice of the need to preserve evidence in anticipation of potential litigation” and that the grievance officer’s “self-serving testimony that he did not believe the initial grievance to be serious is not objectively reasonable.” He is recommending that Judge Robert Pitman instruct the jury that it may “presume the video footage was unfavorable to Defendants.”
LatinoJustice PRLDEF, Kirkland & Ellis LLP and Webber Law are suing the Hays County Jail on behalf of Salvador Sanchez. Sanchez was injured when he put his hand through the food slot of an isolation cell and asked to be fed after missing a meal. Corrections Officer Bryan Thomas responded by kicking the food slot closed and stomping on the food slot while Sanchez’s hand was wedged inside. The entire incident was caught on two cameras: Officer Thomas’s body worn camera, and a fixed position camera located outside Sanchez’s jail cell at the Hays County Jail. All of this video evidence has been deleted.
“Mr. Sanchez repeatedly requested for the video evidence to be looked at, yet it was never investigated, and it was erased by the jail,” said Karen Muñoz Treviño, Justice Catalyst Fellow at LatinoJustice PRLDEF and who represented Mr. Sanchez. “We are pleased Magistrate Judge Howell recognized that the video footage, were it available, would likely side with our client's side of the story.”
As Kirkland & Ellis’s lawyer’s Brandon Hanley demonstrated at the hearing, Mr. Sanchez had filed multiple grievances about the incident while the jail footage was still preserved in the Hays County Jail system. Hays County claimed that it had deleted the evidence because Mr. Sanchez’s grievances were filed after the 48-hour statute of limitations it placed on grievances by incarcerated people. Judge Howell rejected this argument and found that Hays County had intentionally deleted the video.
“This decision will hopefully spur the jail to save video evidence of use of force incidents going forward,” Mr. Hanley said. “Preserving such evidence will help ensure that individuals can be held accountable for their actions, promoting the safety of all people at Hays County Jail — from incarcerated people to staff and officers.”
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About LatinoJustice
LatinoJustice PRLDEF works to create a more just society by using and challenging the rule of law to secure transformative, equitable and accessible justice, by empowering our community and by fostering leadership through advocacy and education. For over 50 years, LatinoJustice PRLDEF has acted as an advocate against injustices throughout the country. To learn more about LatinoJustice, visit www.LatinoJustice.org.
About Kirkland & Ellis
Kirkland is committed to providing legal services without charge to those who cannot afford counsel, with the goals of improving lives, bettering communities and deepening our attorneys’ professional experience. Kirkland attorneys at all levels pursue pro bono matters dealing with a variety of issues such as immigration, disability rights, civil rights, prisoner rights, death penalty cases and criminal appeals, guardianship, veterans’ benefits, and the representation of nonprofit organizations, among other areas. In 2023, Kirkland devoted nearly 150,000 hours to pro bono matters — some representing classes of individuals, some involving significant legal issues, and all important, sometimes life-altering, to the people and organizations represented. Learn more about Kirkland’s commitment to pro bono and corporate social responsibility at www.kirkland.com/CSR.