The woes of Williamson Co. Sheriff John Maspero continue, as last week a judge ruled that County Attorney Gene Taylor can proceed with his lawsuit to oust Maspero — just matriculating from drunk school — for multiple counts of conduct unbecoming a public official.
Naked City submitted an open-records request to Taylor requesting that his office make available all information received by his public integrity task force investigators, via a Georgetown phone line dedicated to citizens making complaints of misconduct by Maspero. On Nov. 12, Taylor forwarded us a copy of his letter to the attorney general, to whom he appealed to block our request. According to Taylor, release of the requested information would have a “chilling effect” on his task force’s continuing efforts to “substantiate or disprove” allegations against Maspero. Moreover, he wrote, releasing the info would violate the privacy rights of the sheriff and, quite possibly, place the tipsters themselves in harm’s way. Some of his informants have “expressed the existence of a clear and present danger to their safety and physical wellbeing,” Taylor wrote, if Maspero or others in county law enforcement were to discover their identities.
Indeed, Taylor wrote that even he had been threatened by Maspero. Maspero “has a reputation as a man who holds grudges,” Taylor wrote. “Even before the investigation began, he had already threatened others, including [Taylor]; saying, ‘You had better not just wound me,’ and asking, ‘Are you afraid I’m going to shoot you?'” The AG’s response is expected in early January.
This article appears in November 21 • 2003.