In the early morning hours of May 30, 2021, Salvador Sanchez sat alone in the Hays County Jail in what the county calls a “violent cell.” Built for inmates who might be dangerous to themselves or others, the cell had metal walls and a windowless metal door. The food slot was the only way to communicate with jail staff.
Sanchez was hungry. He stuck his arm out of the food slot to get a guard’s attention. According to his handwritten lawsuit, filed in 2021 and amended last year, correctional officer Bryan Thomas told Sanchez he would not bring food and pushed the metal flap of the food slot down with his foot, crushing it against Sanchez’s hand. Two other guards joined in, pushing with their hands.
“[Sanchez] was yelling in pain, begging officers to stop, and was unable to move his hand from the food slot once the officers began using force,” the amended lawsuit reads.
Sanchez’s allegation is not particularly unique. Last fall, a Houston Chronicle data analysis found that the Hays County jail is, by far, the most dangerous in the state for violence by jailers against inmates.
In Sanchez’s case, two cameras caught the alleged violence on video, one fixed outside the cell and another worn by Thomas. According to attorneys with LatinoJustice, a civil rights group that has taken Sanchez’s case, Hays County officials reviewed the video but took no action. Sanchez filed a grievance on June 24, 2021, complaining that his hand had been injured and his civil rights violated. His attorneys say that on June 29, five days later, Hays County deleted the fixed video.
Sanchez filed a second grievance on July 8. “The cameras will prove what I say is true,” he wrote. “This needs to be investigated. Look at the cameras!”
“[Sanchez] was yelling in pain, begging officers to stop, and was unable to move his hand from the food slot once the officers began using force.” – The amended lawsuit
Attorneys Karen Muñoz and Rebecca Webber joined Sanchez’s case in 2023, after learning of it from Cyrus Gray, a former jail inmate who spent four years behind bars on murder charges which were eventually dropped. Muñoz said that Sanchez’s grievances put Hays County officials on notice that he had a claim under law which required them to preserve the video evidence.
“The duty to preserve is something that exists under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure,” Muñoz said. “Once you are in reasonable anticipation of litigation, that’s when you’re supposed to start preserving things. How are we supposed to have accountability for law enforcement officers at all if they’re not even preserving the video?”
After Sanchez’s second grievance, jail officials transferred him to a different county jail, something that advocates say is common practice for inmates who make complaints. Sanchez continued to demand accountability. In November of 2021, he sent a letter to the Texas Commission on Jail Standards, asking that they investigate. On Dec. 3, TCJS forwarded a letter to Hays County, warning that Sanchez’s allegations might be “criminal in nature.” The same day, Sanchez’s attorneys say, Hays County deleted Thomas’ body-worn camera video. Sanchez filed his lawsuit days later, claiming that officers had caused permanent nerve damage to his hand and requesting $1.6 million in compensation.
Last week, Sanchez’s attorneys asked federal Judge Dustin Howell to find that Hays County had intentionally or negligently destroyed the video evidence of the alleged assault. If the court agrees, it would support Sanchez’s allegation and perhaps help him win his lawsuit. Muñoz said that could persuade counties across the state to follow laws relating to oversight more closely. She noted that the deleted body-worn camera video was only 36 seconds long and should have been easy for Hays County to save.
“This case could have been over in the very beginning, if they had shown us this 36-second video,” Muñoz said. “If it did exonerate their officer.”
On Oct. 9, as the Chronicle went to press, Judge Howell found that the evidence in the case suggests Hays County intentionally “deprive[d] Sanchez of the video footage” – in other words, covered it up by deleting it – and recommended that Judge Robert Pitman instruct Sanchez’s jury to presume that the footage, if it were available, would support his claim.
Editor’s Note Thursday, 12:30pm: This story has been updated following a decision from Judge Dustin Howell.
This article appears in October 11 • 2024.
