By JIM HARDIN
CNHI
Rockwall County —
The Rockwall County criminal district attorney and the Texas Rangers have found no evidence of criminal activity involving a Heath resident’s allegations against Assistant City Manager Kim Dobbs.
“The findings of the Rockwall County district attorney’s office and the Texas Rangers confirm the position maintained by the city attorney that there was no basis in fact or in law for the allegations,” Dobbs said in a written statement Wednesday. “Because I may pursue legal options arising from the defamatory and false statements made, I have been advised to refrain from further comment.”
In a statement issued Tuesday, Criminal District Attorney Kenda Culpepper said Tina Winnett contacted her office regarding “serious allegations” against Dobbs.
“I assigned the case to an assistant district attorney, and the ADA met with Ms. Winnett on a number of occasions and reviewed several hundred pages of documents that she produced,” Culpepper said in the statement. “Based on the documents and other evidence presented by Ms. Winnett, the ADA could find no evidence of criminal activity.”
Culpepper pointed out in the statement that her office prosecutes cases after they have been investigated.
Because the district attorney’s office is not an investigative body and because the allegations involved a city within its jurisdiction, “we referred the situation to the Texas Rangers for an independent review of the case.”
“They, in turn, have advised us that they also found no evidence of criminal activity and have closed their investigation,” the district attorney said in the statement.
Winnett, who has described herself as a community watchdog, has accused Dobbs of violating disclosure laws and authorizing $90,000 in “kickbacks” to her husband’s law firm. According to Winnett, Dobbs’ husband is a partner in the law firm that was hired to handle the appeal of a lawsuit that was filed against the city over the location and construction of the Amy Parks water tower.
The city paid the law firm almost $90,000, she said. Winnett added that Dobbs never filed this conflict of interest information with the city, “as required by law.” She said the law firm also did not file a conflict of interest form with the city.
Winnett voiced her allegations during a June 15 Heath City Council meeting. Mayor John Ratcliffe said city council members were not allowed to comment after her presentation. City officials also declined to comment later about her claims.
City Attorney Pete Eckert, however, provided a brief, written response to Winnett’s remarks made at the city council meetings.
“After review as city attorney of the comments made at the June 15, 2010, city council meeting, my response is as follows: There is no basis, either in fact or as a matter of law, for the allegations made or for the actions requested by the citizen. All referenced matters were fully and appropriately disclosed.”
Winnett later took her allegations to the Texas Rangers. In a letter to Assistant District Attorney Brian Williams, Winnett said she learned that the district attorney must request the Texas Rangers “to assist at a point that your office feels there is something to investigate.”
After learning of the Texas Rangers’ decision, Winnett sent an email to a Herald-Banner reporter on Saturday, stating that, “I am not stopping.”
“There is a lot more going on that I have not even gotten into yet and I am currently writing a summary of all the unethical, inappropriate things I have received documents on up to this point,”
Winnett wrote in the email.
