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Henry County deputy seeks legal reimbursement from county
Deputy Carlos Lopez seeks ‘fairness, closure, and the opportunity for healing’, while petition notes previous denials of aid
Southeast Iowa Union offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
MT. PLEASANT - Speaking before the Henry County Board of Supervisors on Nov. 18, Deputy Carlos Lopez requested help with his legal fees stemming from his Brady-Giglio case. Lopez requested $21,205.
According to a recording of the meeting posted on Facebook by Southeast Iowa Today with John Bain, Lopez told the supervisors: “We have suffered mentally, emotionally, and financially throughout this ordeal. I am therefor asking that the county reimburse my attorney fees related to the proceedings that resulted in my exoneration and removal from the Brady-Giglio list. [...] I seek fairness, closure, and the opportunity for healing.”
The Board declined to make a decision on the 18th, but said they would take the request under consideration, and alert Lopez before they’d next discuss it.
Over the past two years, Lopez was embroiled in a legal battle with the County Attorney Darin Stater, regarding whether his responses to Stater’s questioning were dishonest, prompting Stater to place Lopez on the Brady-Giglio list. This is a list of witnesses the prosecutor believes to be unreliable. But, with the ruling of District Judge Thomas Rydell in September that Stater had committed an “abuse of discretion,” Lopez’ name was removed from the list. Now, all that is left is the cost involved with his defense.
A petition to deny Lopez’s request is circulating around the county. This tract, written by Aaron Williamson, claims that Iowa’s District Court has already ruled against attorney claims being reimbursable, even striking Lopez’s claims themselves. Previous attempts by the Board to reimburse Lopez’s legal claims were returned, deemed “improper” by the county attorney. Lopez’s case was his own, not a county-directed duty.
According to Williamson, who did not furnish names, this petition represents the wishes of “at least fifteen people.”
When asked to comment on the petition, Lopez told The Union that Williamson is the live-in partner of his ex-wife.
Call Marilyn Higgins at 319-368-8895 or email her at marilyn.higgins@southeastiowaunion.com
