QUITMAN — After a nine-year legal battle, the city of Quitman has acknowledged the hardships faced by Terry Bevill, a former police captain who was fired and later arrested for aggravated perjury after signing a 2017 affidavit stating he didn’t believe a coworker could receive a fair trial in Wood County.
A grand jury later no-billed Bevill, 66, who went on to win a $21.35 million federal verdict against four East Texas public officials and the city of Quitman. The jury found that overwhelming evidence supported the conclusion that he was fired and later charged with a third-degree felony in retaliation for exercising his First Amendment rights.
In a proclamation read by Quitman Mayor Randy Dunn, the city honored Bevill for 25 years of service as a police officer in various roles, including jailer, deputy, investigator, patrol sergeant, jail administrator, captain and reserve officer.
“His dedication to public service spanned multiple agencies, including many years with the Quitman Police Department, where he served our community with professionalism, integrity, and leadership,” Dunn said as he presented Bevill with the proclamation.
“Law enforcement is more than a career. It is a commitment to serving others, often under difficult circumstances and without recognition. For 25 years, Terry answered that call,” Dunn said. “On behalf of the City of Quitman and the citizens he has served, we thank Terry Bevill for his dedication, sacrifice, and contributions to our community to congratulate him in this milestone of achievement.”
Although the proclamation fell short of a full apology, Bevill said he felt honored. “It’s exciting,” Bevill said. “It’s closure.”
Despite being charged with aggravated perjury after signing a June 2, 2017, affidavit on behalf of coworker and jail administrator David McGee, Bevill said he would have done it all again.
“I knew he (McGee) was not going to get a fair trial in Wood County with those three,” said Bevill, who filed a federal civil rights lawsuit in 2019 against several powerful East Texas officials, alleging retaliation and conspiracy to violate his First Amendment rights.
During his federal trial in Sherman, Bevill claimed he was fired by then Quitman Mayor David Dobbs because of pressure from former Wood County District Attorney Jim Wheeler, former Sheriff Tom Castloo and former State District Judge Jeff Fletcher.
When asked if the legal battle was worth it, Bevill said, “I just wanted to tell my story. I wanted my side heard.”
“The court was the best thing ever,” Bevill added. “That’s when I thought I got my rights back.”
Dobbs, the former Quitman mayor and now a Quitman city council member, said he has since apologized to Bevill and that he was misled when he fired him in 2017. “I was just two weeks into my role as mayor,” Dobbs said. “I should have questioned some things a little more.”
“We appreciate Terry,” added Dobbs, who attended the proclamation. “We wanted to honor him tonight.”
Laura Benitez Geisler, a lead attorney for Bevill, said the city of Quitman’s proclamation helped bring a final chapter to the lengthy legal battle and put the matter to rest for the former police captain, who has continued to live in Quitman.
“They’re doing what’s right in terms of moral accountability,” Geisler said. “For that, I am incredibly grateful because I think it goes a long way toward restoring people’s faith in their elected officials and city leaders.”
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“For Terry, it really wasn’t about the money,” added Geisler, a partner at Sommerman, McCaffity, Quesada & Geisler in Dallas. “It was about getting his story out and restoring his dignity and reputation. The goal wasn’t to bankrupt the City of Quitman and its taxpayers or to subject them to harm because of a few corrupt officials.”
Geisler said the city’s proclamation was not a condition of the settlement.
“I wanted it to be authentic for Terry to accept it,” she said. “Negotiating an apology just rings hollow. My sense is he would have been reluctant (to accept it) if not done for the right reasons.”
Though a federal jury awarded Bevill a total of $21.35 million — $18 million in compensatory damages and $3.35 million in punitive damages — Geisler said she knew they would be limited in their ability to collect.
Instead, the city of Quitman has agreed to a $1.22 million settlement, and all defendants have settled out for an undisclosed sum.
Bevill said he was grateful to Geisler for taking his case, which had to overcome claims of judicial and prosecutorial immunity and establish that Bevill’s First Amendment rights as a public official were protected.
“Everything they threw in front of her, she jumped it like a jackrabbit,” he said.
Within days of signing McGee’s affidavit seeking a change of venue, Bevill was placed on administrative leave and later fired from the Quitman Police Department. The city concluded that he had violated departmental policies by signing the affidavit in support of McGee’s request for a change of venue.
After McGee was convicted in a criminal trial, State District Judge Jeff Fletcher, who has since left the bench, issued a warrant charging Bevill with aggravated perjury based on statements in the affidavit. Bevill surrendered to authorities, was booked into jail, and spent hours in custody before being released on bond with a series of restrictions, including surrendering firearms and obtaining permission before leaving Wood County.
The criminal case lingered for more than a year before being presented to a grand jury. In October 2018, the grand jury declined to indict Bevill, effectively ending the prosecution.
Bevill subsequently filed a federal civil rights lawsuit alleging retaliation and conspiracy to violate his First Amendment rights.
Dobbs, Castloo, Wheeler and Fletcher were all defendants in the federal lawsuit, along with the city of Quitman and Wood County. After a six-day trial in September 2024, the eight-member jury found that Mayor Dobbs retaliated against Bevill for exercising his First Amendment rights and that Fletcher, Wheeler, Castloo, Dobbs and the city of Quitman conspired to bring about his termination.
Geisler, in the trial’s closing arguments, called Castloo, Wheeler, and Fletcher the “trilogy of power” in the largely rural East Texas county.
In a blistering 98-page opinion, U.S. District Judge Amos L. Mazzant III rejected efforts by Wheeler, Castloo, Fletcher and the city of Quitman to overturn or reduce a verdict awarded to Bevill.
“This case exists because three public officials weaponized the justice system to pursue their personal vendettas against an honest public servant,” Judge Mazzant wrote. He added that Bevill “lost his job and was thrown in jail” after exercising his First Amendment rights.
“The cost of doing the right thing was losing his livelihood, his freedom, and his good name,” Judge Mazzant added.
When asked about the lengthy legal battle that ended with him being honored in a proclamation, Bevill said he now had closure. “All I was doing was telling the truth,” he said.