DALLAS (AP) – Dallas County is suing the state to keep under wraps records on a man’s death after a struggle with deputies in the county jail lobby.
The Dallas County grand jury had declined any indictments in the August 2015 death of Joseph Hutcheson. The Dallas Morning News reports his family’s attorney requested records under the state Public Information Act, including personnel files of four deputies involved in the struggle. The county said the law allows withholding records in the event of anticipated litigation, but the state attorney general’s office decided some records must be shared.
The Dallas County medical examiner’s office ruled the 48-year-old Arlington handyman’s death a homicide. It cited the combined toxic effects of cocaine and methamphetamine, along with underlying high blood pressure and the stress the struggle.
Copyright 2017. Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
