A rural Texas district judge, sheriff and ex-district attorney have denied allegations that they retaliated against a former police captain who said in an affidavit that a close relationship among the three public officials would prevent a defendant in a criminal case from getting a fair trial.

Terry Bevill claimed that because of his affidavit, Wood County Sheriff Tom Castloo, 402nd District Judge Jeffrey Fletcher and former Wood County District Attorney Jim Wheeler worked together to get him fired as a police captain in the City of Quitman. He said they then filed an aggravated perjury charge that Wheeler delayed for 16 months before taking before a grand jury, which eventually declined to indict the ex-police captain, according to the original complaint in Bevill v. City of Quitman.