Commissioners Court authorizes Legal Counsel to explore settlement of Jose Cabello Default Judgment

By: Jose G. Landa, Copyright 2014, Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc.

Maverick County Commissioners Court held a special meeting on Monday, April 14, 2014, at the Commissioners Courtroom in the Maverick County Courthouse, located at 500 Quarry Street, in Eagle Pass, Texas, authorizing Maverick County General Counsel Poncho Nevarez to explore settlement negotiations of the Jose Cabello Default Judgment entered against Maverick County on February 21, 2012 in the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas, Del Rio Division, by U.S. District Judge Alia Moses.

Plaintiffs Jose Cabello, Maria Cabello, Anailu Cabello, and Christabel Cabello filed a civil lawsuit against Maverick County, Maverick County Sheriff’s Department, Javier Cardona, and 11 federal agents of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas, Del Rio Division, in Del Rio, Texas on November 9, 2011 for damages sustained from a joint Maverick County Sheriff’s Department and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) execution of a search warrant on July 26, 2010 on Plaintiff Jose Cabello’s  residence in Eagle Pass, Texas. Defendant Javier Cardona, a member of the Maverick County Sheriff’s Department, shot Plaintiff Jose Cabello while executing the search warrant while standing by the doorway of his kitchen, striking Cabello on the right shoulder, and another Maverick County Sheriff Department Officer Jose Blanco also fired on Plaintiff Jose Cabello but missed him. All of the Plaintiffs were arrested and hand-cuffed upon execution of the search warrant by the joint Maverick County and ICE operation.

After the execution of the search warrant and detention of Plaintiffs, the joint Maverick County Sheriff’s Department and ICE operation determined that they had executed the search warrant on the wrong address and suspects. They had made a mistake on the wrong address and suspects. Plaintiffs filed a civil lawsuit in federal court alleging damages arising from violation of their state, federal, and constitutional civil rights.

Defendants Maverick County, Maverick County Sheriff’s Department, and Javier Cardona were served with the Plaintiffs’ federal lawsuit on November 16, 2011, requiring that they answer the lawsuit on or before December 7, 2011. Defendants Maverick County, Maverick County Sheriff’s Department, and Javier Cardona failed to timely answer the Plaintiffs’ complaint by December 7, 2011. On December 20, 2011, Plaintiffs filed a Request for Entry of Default against Maverick County, Maverick County Sheriff’s Department, and Javier Cardona.  On February 21, 2012, U.S. District Judge Alia Moses granted Plaintiffs’ Request for Entry of Default against Maverick County and other defendants.

On August 15, 2012, the Plaintiffs filed a Motion for Default Judgment against Defendants Maverick County, Maverick County Sheriff’s Department, and Javier Cardona. Finally, on September 5, 2012, Defendants Maverick County, Maverick County Sheriff’s Department, and Javier Cardona filed a Motion to Vacate Default Judgment.

Defendants Maverick County, Maverick County Sheriff’s Department, and Javier Cardona Motion to Vacate Default Judgment was denied by U.S. District Judge Alia Moses on September 30, 2013.

Upon going into Open Session,  Maverick County Commissioners Court unanimously authorized Maverick County General Counsel Poncho Nevarez to begin the negotiations for settlement of the Jose Cabello Default Judgment and instructed Nevarez to make sure that the self-insured-retention amount be tendered to the plaintiffs and authorized Nevarez to negotiate the terms of that settlement offer and report back to Commissioners Court.

Commissioners Court also addressed a delicate situation stemming from an unfortunate occurrence where a Maverick County resident lost his life due to African Bee stings at a Seco Mines residence last week.   County Commissioner Jose Luis Rosales asked the court if it was possible for Maverick County to assist residents with bee hive problems within their properties.  Commissioners Court approved the agenda item that now allows the County to assist residents with any concern with bee infestations on a case by case basis.

Also approved at the April 14th meeting was a professional services contract with Hejl Lee & Associates, Inc. for their engineering services pertaining to the recently approved Maverick County CETRZ Old Mines Road Improvement Project for approximately $396,000 by the Texas Department of Transportation.  This project was made possible through Senate Bill 1747 which will allocate funding to counties that have and will be affected by the Oil and Gas industry’s boom and increased traffic on county roads.

Another Agenda item unanimously approved was the hiring of two full-time Certified Nursing Assistant’s (CNA) and one Licensed Vocational Nurse (LVN) replacement hires for the Maverick Detention Center’s  medical staff.  These new CNA and LVN hires are retroactive to April 3, 2014 and stem from a recent incident in which several LVN’s and RN walked out of their jobs from the medical staff at the Maverick County Detention Center in protest of Commissioners Court significantly decreasing their hourly rate of pay at a February 27th special meeting.  This medical staff walkout left the Maverick County Detention Center without medical staff for one or more days, forcing Maverick County to scramble and hire replacements because the Maverick County Detention Center cannot operate without medical staff.  The Maverick County Detention Center is now operating with a proper medical staff.