Former Pascagoula police dispatcher sues former Jackson County sheriff, county, others
By Margaret Baker, The Sun Herald | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
The lawsuit is one of nine currently pending in
in some of the cases.
The cases all raise questions, according to an attorney representing six of the plaintiffs, about the legitimacy of child pornography investigations in which suspects were never formally charged.
A
The suit alleges Byrd, with the aid of then cyber-crime investigators
Brushaber's father, the suit alleges, had also allowed all sheriff's candidates in
The suit says there was a subsequent "rift" between Byrd and Brushaber's father because he would not agree to publicly endorse Byrd for sheriff in his upcoming election. Brushaber's father, as a result, was the actual target in the case.
In March, the suit says, deputies Jones and Thornton-Manning along with others went to Brushaber's home to check out his laptop computer for child pornography and after a fast scan of the computer, the deputies said they had found evidence of child pornography downloaded on the computer. The detectives, however, would not allow Brushaber to see what they were talking about.
Jones, the suit says, then asked Brushaber if it was his father instead him who had downloaded the child pornography. When Brushaber said his father had not downloaded child pornography, the suit says, Thornton-Manning told Brushaber that they "thought they were coming to arrest" his father that day.
Brushaber, the suit says, also pointed out to sheriff's deputies that he had received the computer that allegedly contained pornography from a roommate, who worked as a sheriff's deputy, and that he and others had access to the computer. In addition, Brushaber told detectives he had an open wireless connection, meaning others could download images on a computer without Brushaber knowing it.
Attorney
"I think the type of conduct and the actions by the sheriff and the sheriff's department that were acknowledged in the federal and state pleas are similar to the allegations in the civil complaints," Miller said. Such allegations that Byrd admitted to include civil rights violations, moves to destroy computer evidence against him and other allegations similar to those outlined in the various federal lawsuits.
In Brushaber's case, he has maintained since the beginning that he had never downloaded any child pornography.
His arrest, he said, essentially cost him.
Prior to his arrest, he said his life was "good."
"I had a steady relationship," he said. "I had friends. My arrest eventually caused the downfall of all my relationships. I lost 95 percent of my friends.
"It's hard to get back on your feet, especially when you know you are innocent the whole time. Even when people believe you, nobody wants to be associated with you because it's such a heinous crime. Once your name is put out there, it's hard to get past that. I still recognize people that know my name and know my face and they shy away from me because of the reputation that I have now. I lost everything."
___
(c)2013 The Sun Herald (Biloxi, Miss.)
Visit The Sun Herald (Biloxi, Miss.) at www.sunherald.com
Distributed by MCT Information Services
Wordcount: | 772 |
Advisor News
Annuity News
Health/Employee Benefits News
Life Insurance News