New Documents Filed For Injunction Against City Employees

New court documents have been filed on behalf of five former El Paso police officers accused of misusing grant money.

ABC-7 first discovered the official documents the city and the state had did not match the documents filed by the officers? attorneys in court.

The case, which hinges on whether or not the city enforced an illegal quota system to issue traffic tickets, is set for a status hearing on Friday. Attorneys for the five former officers say the quota system exists, but the documentation they originally filed in court seemed to have a statement that was omitted from the Texas Traffic Safety Grant that was on file with the city and state.

The new document, filed by Stuart Leeds, includes a sentence that reads: ?Nothing in this agreement shall be interpreted as a requirement, formal or informal, that a peace officer issued a specific or predetermined number of citations.?

When the story was first reported in November, neither Leeds nor Theresa Caballero, the other attorney representing the five former officers, answered why the altered document was filed. Now, when asked why they entered the addendum, Caballero said it helps their case and proves the El Paso Police Department is doing exactly what the Texas Department of Transportation warned against.

Caballero pointed towards internal emails, included in the original court filing that Sgt. Jack Matthews sent to numerous police officers in May 2011. In one email Matthews writes, ?If you think that you can not meet this goal during your five hour shift then do not work the grant.?

The next step for this case is a hearing scheduled for Friday at 1 p.m. That hearing will be a teleconference with Rio Grande Valley Judge Louis Banales.

Caballero has objected to the visiting judge, saying local judges are abandoning the case because it is a hot button issue.

?The problem with an out-of-town judge coming in, is that he?s not accountable to the El Paso electorate, so he can issue his ruling without taking into consideration the voting public,? said Caballero.

Assistant city attorney Kenneth Krohn declined to comment on the case. However, court filings show the city wants to have the case dismissed and is seeking reimbursement for lawyer fees in relation to the injunction.