GALVESTON – Alleging his appeal of an indefinite suspension from the League City Police Department was denied, Jim Bitner has pursued legal action.
Recent Galveston County District Court records show that Bitner filed a lawsuit against the City of League City in the Galveston County 405th District Court on Feb. 7.
LPPD purportedly suspended Bitner on June 29, 2016. Per the suit, the plaintiff filed an appeal and was granted a hearing before a third party examiner four months later in which he was ruled against.
Bitner insists that the examiner “exceeded his jurisdiction and unlawfully procured his order by examining evidence received outside the confides of the hearing.”
“Specifically, after the close of evidence, the hearing examiner researched a webpage (Drugs.com) and cited reference materials from the website in his opinion,” the suit says. “The hearing examiner acknowledged in his award that ‘(W)hile this analysis was not introduced into evidence...’ before ‘pasting’ the material into his opinion.”
Consequently, the complainant seeks unspecified monetary damages.
He is represented by attorney Gregory B. Cagle of Houston.
Galveston County 405th District Court Case No. 17-CV-0155