JUDGE RULES ALMANZA RETALIATION SUIT CAN CONTINUE: SHERIFF GARZA, CHIEF DEPUTY GRACIA STILL ON THE HOOK

 Special to El Rrun-Rrun

On Monday night, local attorney Dave Willis called his client Cameron County Sgt. Rodrigo Almanza and told him that federal judge Fernando Rodriguez had come down on his side with an opinion and order that his First Amendment lawsuit against Sheriff Garza and Chief Deputy Robert Gracia could proceed.

In a 23-page recounting of the lawsuit, Rodriguez ruled that he was denying Garza's motions for dismissal in his personal and official capacity for allegedly violating his First Amendment rights by retaliating against Almanza after he campaigned for former Sheriff Omar Lucio's – Sheriff Garza’s opponent in the 2020 Cameron County sheriff’s election – and that the court lacked subject-matter jurisdiction. 

"Based on Almanza’s allegations and the applicable law," Rodriguez wrote, "the Court concludes that the claims against Sheriff Garza and Chief Deputy Gracia are not subject to dismissal."

However, Rodriguez, said, Gracia could not be sued in his official capacity because he was not a county employee at the time that alleged First Amendment violations occurred. He also ruled that Gracia was not the department policy maker. The result of the opinion means that Gracia will continue as a defendant in his individual capacity and will have to personally foot the bill for his defense.

Almanza, a nine-year veteran of the CCSO, filed the lawsuit against both men after they allegedly retaliated against him for openly supporting Lucio during the campaign against Garza in his private time by humiliating him, removing him from any supervisory role at the department, and assigning him to duties under subordinates.

In denying the defendants' motions, Rodriguez ruled that:

*It is ORDERED that Defendant Eric Garza’s Motion to Dismiss in his Official Capacity is DENIED;

* It is ORDERED that Defendant Eric Garza’s Motion to Dismiss in his Individual Capacity is DENIED;

* It is ORDERED that Defendant Robert Gracia’s Motion to Dismiss (Doc. 7) is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART; and

*It is ORDERED that Plaintiff Rodrigo Almanza’s causes of action against Robert Gracia in his official capacity are DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE.

*It is also ORDERED that Plaintiff Rodrigo Almanza’s request to file a First Amended Complaint is GRANTED. The Clerk of Court is directed to file the proposed First Amended Complaint.

Almanza was assigned to the Criminal Investigations Division (“CID”) and held the position of Criminal Investigator. With this assignment, his duties included: responding to emergencies; analyzing crime scenes for evidence; collecting evidence; obtaining warrants for arrest; arresting suspects; interviewing witnesses; testifying in court; and writing case reports. 

As a CCSO supervisor in CID, Almanza supervised approximately six (6) subordinates. He claimed that an assignment to CID is considered prestigious because deputies assigned to the division work in civilian clothes, have an office, are assigned a preferred work schedule of 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. with weekends off, are assigned late-model fleet units, and due to the nature of the work, have access to professional advancement and accolades. 

Almanza’s duties also included the "very prestigious" assignment of being the liaison to the CCSO’s counterpart in the Republic of Mexico, responsible for coordinating the Sheriff’s Office’s operational needs with its Mexican counterparts.

When Garza announced his candidacy for Cameron County Sheriff, in opposition to Lucio, Almanza was a public and vocal supporter of former Sheriff Lucio and participated on his campaign by block walking, assisting at political events, and posting supportive messages on social media.

Almanza's lawsuit claims that shortly after Sheriff Garza won the election, he named Gracia as his Chief Deputy, despite the fact that Robert Gracia was not a peace officer certified by the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement (T-COLE).

On December 30,  Gracia issued a memorandum ordering all deputies of a certain shift, and those not scheduled to work on January 1, 2021, to attend swearing in ceremonies at particular times and to fill out employment packets for continued employment with the CCSO.

The next day, the lawsuit charges, Gracia began issuing orders to Almanza regarding active CID cases he was working on without being a certified peace officer. Almanza questioned these orders and took them as an attempt by Gracia to interfere in his investigations.

The dramatic shift assignment from CID to the Jail Division and the total loss of professional responsibilities, when combined with the supervisory vacancies in the patrol division, caused Almanza to believe that his reassignment was not done to meet the operations needs of the Sheriff’s Office, but rather to professionally humiliate him to the point that he would resign. 

His beliefs were reinforced by the fact that Gracia told Primera Police Department Chief Deputy Manny Trevino that he was going to “make [Sgt. Almanza] quit,” according to the lawsuit.

In his lawsuit, Almanza alleged that the actions by Garza and Gracia were in retaliation for engaging in constitutionally protected political speech and asks declaratory, injunctive relief, and compensatory and punitive damages.