"Brothers help brothers, squared" might be one way to capture what’s happening in Waco. Two brothers are plaintiffs in a civil rights complaint filed on March 27 in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas there. Roberto and Jaime Moreno-Gutierrez allege that Hill County, its sheriff’s office and the Texas Department of Public Safety violated their civil rights when the pair were unlawfully detained in 2011 for 39 days. Who represents them in the litigation? Two brothers, Cary Toland, a solo in Brownsville, and John Toland of Peek & Toland in Austin. John Toland first began representing the Moreno-Gutierrez brothers after a TDPS K-9 unit agent stopped them en route from their Killeen home to a Plano car dealership, according to the allegations in the complaint in Robert Moreno-Gutierrez, et al. v. Hill County, et al. At the time of the stop, the brothers were carrying $14,000 in cash and checks with the intention of purchasing a new auto. The TDPS agent took the Moreno-Gutierrez brothers to the Hill County sheriff’s office, where they were neither read their Miranda rights nor told why they were being detained, the complaint continues. The brothers’ relatives contacted John Toland for help. His firm made a "series of calls and visits" to Hill County officials, according to the complaint, and underscored for the "jailers" that no charges or probable cause affidavit had been filed, therefore holding them for longer than 72 hours violated Texas Code of Criminal Procedure §17.033(b) and the state and federal constitutions. The complaint cites among its causes of action federal and state constitutional violations, false imprisonment and negligence. Hill County Attorney David Holmes, who represents the sheriff and the county, refers questions to counsel for his employer’s insurer, J. Eric Magee, an associate with Austin’s Allison Bass & Associates. Magee did not return a call to his office seeking comment. Phillip Adkins, the TDPS general counsel, also did not return a call seeking comment. Cary Toland, a personal injury lawyer, says his brother John, who normally handles criminal matters, asked him for help filing the civil rights complaint. He says the facts of the case "are almost hard to believe."
Safety Scholarship
On April 1, Houston’s Abraham, Watkins, Nichols, Sorrels, Agosto & Friend launched a scholarship program for teens who attend one of four Houston schools and who pledge not to text while driving, according to firm partner Randall Sorrels. The firm launched the scholarship program in honor of April’s designation as Distracted Driving Awareness Month, Sorrels says. "We’ve seen a number of cases that involved distracted driving, and the worst injuries have been with texting. We’re hoping that this campaign will help the teens form lifetime habits of not texting while driving," Sorrels says about the inspiration for the program. At stake are four $250 scholarships. Eligible students sophomores, juniors and seniors at Lamar, Reagan, Austin and Yates high schools can submit a written pledge about why they will not text and drive to the firm’s Facebook or Google+ page. It can’t be any longer than 150 words. At the end of April, the firm will select one winner from each of the four schools, basing its picks on the quality of the essays, Sorrels says. So far, he says, no students have submitted essays. But Sorrels says, "We are just now getting the word out." With statewide exams are taking place in the targeted schools, he notes, students might have their focus on those for a few more days.
