Costs for the death of Anthony Johnson Jr. in the county jail in April increased by more than a third of a million dollars on Tuesday, November 12.
Tarrant County commissioners approved the hiring of at least 10 outside law firms to represent the county and nine jailers in the lawsuit filed by Johnson’s family in July. The hires were approved 4-1, with Commissioner Alisa Simmons, D-Arlington, casting the only dissenting vote.
The first of a batch of nine agenda items approved in one round of voting was authorizing the head of the Civil Division of the District Attorney’s Office to hire outside attorneys to represent the county in the case. That contract was approved for up to $100,000.
The other items in the lot were for outside attorneys to represent nine jailers involved in the altercation that resulted in Johnson’s death. Each of those hires was approved for up to $30,000, bringing the total to $370,000.
The Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled Johnson’s death a homicide and Two jailers have been charged with murder..
The county commissioners in August. approved the hiring of external lawyers for those jailersRafael Moreno and Joel García, each also for up to $30,000. In September, they approved hiring three more for other jailers named as defendants in the lawsuit, also for up to $30,000 each.
The outside attorney’s bill in the case now totals more than $500,000.
The hires make it “clear” that commissioners “believe it is in their best interest to defend the murder of Anthony Johnson rather than right a wrong,” said Daryl Washington, the Johnson family attorney.
“Sheriff Waybourn has repeatedly stated that what happened to Anthony was wrong,” he continued. “We know that there were no policies to prevent the death of Anthony Johnson, Chastity Bonner and more than 60 other inmates.”
The jailers who were there were not trained to act in a way that could have prevented Johnson’s death, Washington said.
“The jailers did nothing because they were not trained to react during a medical event,” he said. “Clearly, the county and jailers are responsible for Anthony’s death, but it has been shown that there is no concern for the families whose loved ones died as a result of a corrupt system.”
Tarrant County residents who spoke during the public comment section asked the court to consider internal mediation before hiring more attorneys.
“At a time when the county has expressed its desire to save taxpayers money… you are asking for $370,000 to hire an outside attorney to represent you and your employees in the civil lawsuit filed by the Johnson family against the jail county,” the Fort Worth resident said. Reed Bilz.
Harriet Harral, also of Fort Worth, said, “This has gotten out of control and we are now facing a lawsuit filed by Anthony Johnson’s family, because Anthony Johnson’s death was ruled a homicide.”
Julie Griffin of Fort Worth called the rising costs of hiring outside attorneys “huge” and said it’s time to “show good faith to the family and the community” by seeking mediation.
Simmons echoed calls for mediation and proposed that the county use lawyers in the District Attorney Civil Divisioninstead of hiring outside lawyers.
“If we hire an external company, the first thing they are going to do is mediate,” he said before the vote. “So why can’t we mediate internally with our District Attorney’s Office? Are we saying that the level of competition is not there? “It doesn’t make sense.”
Commissioners discussed the agenda items in a brief closed-door session before voting again. Before the closed session, County Judge Tim O’Hare said the internal option was only possible for county representation.
“Points two to nine are mandatory,” he said. “In-house attorneys cannot be used due to conflict of interest issues.”
Simmons responded by saying that was the issue he was talking about.
A spokesperson for the district attorney’s office confirmed that in-house civil attorneys cannot be used to represent individual defendants in cases filed against the county due to conflicts of interest.
