Newspaper Publisher/Blogger Sues Combine, Texas Over False Imprisonment

As was reported Friday, a lawsuit was filed against the City of Combine, Texas in Kaufman County district court pertaining to the false imprisonment of The Ellis County Observer publisher Joey G. Dauben, who at the time of his illegal search and seizure and arrest, was the publisher of The Plymouth, N.H. Review newspaper (the search and seizures, confiscation of computer/camera equipment were violations of journalist shield laws.) Dauben was arrested for publishing a mug shot of an arrested Combine reserve officer (William Achey) on his blog; he was accused of committing felonies for receiving the anonymous e-mail and publishing the mug shot. Charges against Dauben were rejected by Dallas County prosecutors, not dropped.  Dauben served 12 days in jail - falsely - from Sept. 14 to Sept. 25, in North Haverill, N.H., in Grafton County (Dauben's apartment in Plymouth was located 35 minutes away.) After Dauben's release, which came six days after Dallas County rejected the charges but still left him in jail, he moved back to Ellis County. Shortly thereafter, Combine Chief Steve Allen resigned, as did others (see below.)



A letter released recently from a Dallas County constable accuses Combine police detective (who was a volunteer reserve officer who coordinated the entire "investigation" and arrest of Dauben) John Allen "Jay" Hoskins of official oppression, among other things.Hoskins later resigned, as did the city secretary. Hoskins later alleged that Chief Allen and now-Chief Brian Robinson led the entire investigation and arrest, and vice versa.



Click Here to View a Full Version of this Letter: i824.photobucket.com/albums/zz163/thepalmerpost/Picture2-1.jpg


(Hoskins is reportedly living hiding in Paris, Texas now)


Archived Stories/Articles/Editorials on the Combine situation: CrookedCombine.com & GypsyCopJay.com