Update: Perhaps Sgt. Espinoza is on permanent indefinite suspension, which is tantamount to no longer being on the force. I say this because I just received this non-response response from Chief of Staff Jerry Hendrix: "We have no comment because Mr. Espinoza likely will file an appeal of his indefinite suspension. As it is Mr. Espinoza's right to have an appeal hearing, the City has no comment at this time so as not to affect the integrity of the process. If you¹d like any additional information, please file the request as a Public Information Request and we¹ll respond."
I’m filing.
Original post:
I’m guessing Sgt. Jesse Espinoza, the Kyle Police Association president, has been dismissed from the force.
I’m guessing this because there’s this item on tomorrow night’s City Council agenda that says the council will convene into executive session "Regarding disciplinary action and possible appeal of a police officer." Yes, it could be something else totally separate from the on-going soap opera being played out at City Hall starring Espinoza, Police Chief Jeff Barnett, Louisiana anesthesiologist Glen Hurlston, Hurlston’s ex-wife Suzanna Besse and, most recently, interim Kyle Police Chief Charles Edge. But if it was something totally separate from this, I would have expected city spokesperson Jerry Hendrix to let the world know it was something different, but so far he and the rest of the city has remained mum on the subject despite (1) an inquiry I made on the subject Friday and (2) the fact that no other city in the country has tried to hide actions taken and not taken against police officers in the last year or so.
In fact, I was quite amused this morning when I saw an item in the Austin American-Statesman about Mike Maugere, the recently appointed police chief of Smithville, Texas. According to this item, Maugere actually held a public town hall meeting last week to inform citizens about everything happening with and to the city’s police department. Here’s one telling paragraph from the story:
"With almost five months under his belt as the Smithville police chief, Maugere has instituted initiatives like the town hall to keep his department transparent and communication open with the public."
Kyle could take some lessons from Smithville.
Instead of informing citizens about what’s going on with those who are supposed to protect and serve the rest of us, Kyle city officials erect a Berlin Wall of silence. I’m not suggesting they divulge any sensitive legal strategy, but the results of an internal investigation and the actual dismissal of a police officer are not "sensitive legal strategy." Yes, the city is involved in a lawsuit filed against it by Hurlston, but the Espinoza investigation, although spawned by the suit, is not directly connected to it and, thus, not privileged information. In fact, most observers believe Espinoza’s problems with Barnett began before he ever heard of Hurlston. The firing of Espinoza will not affect the outcome of Hurlston’s lawsuit. Yes, it could spawn another lawsuit, an unrelated one filed by Espinoza claiming he was dismissed in violation of Civil Service procedures, but that, too, is not part of the discussion over whether Espinoza still is a member of the Kyle Police Department.
The internal investigation of Espinoza revolved around allegations he received gifts of paid vacations and donations to help pay for Espinoza’s son’s cancer treatments from Hurlston in return for providing the doctor with information about Barnett. And there are reasons Hurlston would want this information. While he was the chief of police in Princeton, Texas, a fast-growing community of 7,700 persons located just east of McKinney, Barnett had an affair with Besse, who was then Hurlston’s wife. The relationship produced a child, now 4-years-old. About a month and a half before the birth of this child, on Jan. 27, 2011, Barnett announced his resignation at Princeton, claiming he wanted to complete his doctorate. In May of that year, Barnett came to Kyle as its police chief.
In January of 2012, Hurlston was arrested and charged with felony domestic abuse after Besse claimed the doctor attempted to strangle her. The charge was later reduced to a Class A misdemeanor and Hurlston pled no contest to the charges. Hurlston is convinced Besse asked Barnett for help and that Barnett used his influence with his former employer to have Hurlston arrested. As a result, in December of 2013 he filed his lawsuit against Barnett, several Princeton police officers and the cities of Princeton and Kyle alleging "unlawful police actions" that resulted in Hurlston suffering "significant and severe emotional distress; physical pain and suffering; emotion, pain and distress; loss of income; and other damages."
Espinoza’s initial problems with Barnett apparently had nothing to do with Hurlston but the fact that Espinoza wanted someone else named police chief back in May 2011. The internal investigation targeting Espinoza came about when Kyle police learned Hurlston had apparently recruited Espinoza to provide him with information on Barnett. It is known, for instance, that Hurlston and Espinoza, along with their respective families, have vacationed together in San Antonio and Destin, Fla., and that in October, 2013, after Espinoza had initiated an online fund-raising campaign to help pay the costs of cancer treatments for his son, Hurlston donated $5,000.
It appeared a couple of weeks ago that the city’s investigation had provided enough evidence to terminate or, at the very least, demote Espinoza. But because of Barnett’s past associations with Espinoza, any action along those lines could be viewed by some, especially Espinoza, as unjustified retaliation. To avoid having it viewed this way, the city announced two weeks ago it was placing Barnett on administrative leave and bringing in Edge, the retired police chief of Waxahachie, Texas. It was going to be his responsibility, as an impartial department head with no prior involvement in this whole mess, to review the evidence against Espinoza, determine whether disciplinary action was warranted and then take that disciplinary action.
That doesn’t mean Espinoza is buying that "impartial" business, hence the item on tomorrow night’s agenda.
But, like I said, I’m really only guess here because, unlike Smithville, our police folks and others connected with Kyle city government don’t believe in all that "transparency" foolishness.
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