Lawyers representing former Quitman police captain Terry Bevill in his legal battle against powerful former East Texas officials have received the John Howie Award for their victory.

The Dallas Trial Lawyers Association only gives the award to attorneys and their clients who exhibit “the courageous pursuit of justice in the face of adversity.” The award is named for renowned Dallas lawyer John Howie, who died in 2002.

The legal team representing Bevill was led by partner Laura Benitez Geisler of Sommerman, McCaffity, Quesada and Geisler. Also representing Bevill were firm partners Sean McCaffity and Jody Rodenberg and attorney Rebecca Neumann.

“It took seven years to obtain justice on Terry Bevill’s behalf, but it was a fight worth seeing through,” Ms. Geisler said.

The multi-year legal dispute resulted from Bevill signing an affidavit supporting former Wood County jail administrator David McGee’s request to move McGee’s criminal trial out of Wood County due to the close personal relationship between the Wood County Sheriff, then county District Attorney Jim Wheeler and then county District Judge Jeff Fletcher.

After Bevill’s affidavit was filed in Fletcher’s court, Bevill was fired by the City of Quitman, McGee’s Motion to Change venue was denied, and at the close of McGee’s trial, Fletcher issued a warrant for Bevill’s arrest for aggravated perjury, a warrant Fletcher later admitted was probably “illegal.” The felony charge was allowed to linger for sixteen months before it was presented to a grand jury and ultimately dismissed.

Following two interlocutory appeals to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, Bevill’s case was presented to a jury in an 8-day trial. The jury found that the City of Quitman and its former Mayor David Dobbs fired Bevill in retaliation for his affidavit testimony. The jury also found that the City and Dobbs conspired with the (now former) Judge Fletcher, District Attorney Wheeler, and Sheriff Castloo to retaliate against Bevill in violation of the First Amendment and awarded Bevill $18 million in compensatory damages and imposed $3.35 million in punitive damages against the individual defendants.

“Terry Bevill’s courage in speaking out against powerful public officials who he believed would deprive a defendant from receiving a fair trial in Wood County came at great personal cost to him, but he did it anyway because he knew it was the right thing to do,” Geisler said. “Terry’s courage and integrity kept us inspired to persist in our pursuit of justice on his behalf. Receiving this award along with him is an honor.”

This recognition is the first time Ms. Geisler and Ms. Rodenberg have received this award. Mr. McCaffity was previously honored in 2021.

Sommerman, McCaffity, Quesada & Geisler, LLP, has a distinguished reputation for knowledgeable and assertive legal representation in the areas of personal injury, wrongful death, and commercial litigation. Since formation, the firm has handled more than 4,000 personal injury cases, negotiated thousands of settlements and taken hundreds of cases to trial. Visit https://www.textrial.com/.

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