FORT WORTH -- A former Pelican Bay police chief who was cleared in 2009 of charges that he inappropriately touched two women in separate 2006 incidents is suing a Tarrant County assistant district attorney, asserting that the prosecutor violated his federal civil rights by pursuing "baseless" criminal charges.
Last week, two years after he was acquitted on one charge of official oppression, Eddie Frankum filed suit in U.S. District Court in Fort Worth against Miles Brissette, who investigated and presented the cases to a grand jury that indicted him in 2008.Ray Rike, chief of the district attorney's civil division, declined to comment."We're going to be defending the lawsuit," Rike said. "That's all I can say. We'll be responding through the courts."Prosecutors Rainey Webb and Robb Catalano -- now a state district judge -- actually tried Frankum in January 2009 after a woman accused him of touching her breast and genital area during a July 2006 traffic stop. A jury acquitted Frankum of the Class A misdemeanor after the woman acknowledged that she was smoking marijuana during the stop and that she lied to a grand jury that indicted him.Prosecutors later dismissed a charge stemming from a similar complaint by a second woman.Although Brissette did not try the cases, Frankum blames him and current Pelican Bay Police Chief Gilbert Towns for targeting him as they investigated complaints that he and other officers improperly searched females in two narcotics arrests. Towns took over as chief after Frankum resigned in July 2007.Frankum said Brissette and his investigators presented evidence to a grand jury that indicted him on three charges in February 2008. After one case was dismissed and two others quashed on legal grounds, Brissette obtained two new indictments in August 2008."Not only did I fight and win, but I followed up with lawsuits against" Towns and Brissette, said Frankum, who owns a Dallas firm that specializes in criminal defense and post-conviction investigations. "My goal is stop them from doing to other people what they did to me."Pelican Bay paid Frankum a undisclosed amount in April to settle a federal civil-rights lawsuit similar to the one against Brissette, Frankum said.The suit against Brissette states that the prosecutor pursued "baseless criminal charges with little, if any, chance of success." Brissette withheld material information -- a grand jury transcript -- from the defense attorney and trial prosecutors, the suit states.Frankum is seeking unspecified compensation for legal expenses, damage to his reputation and mental anguish.Martha Deller, 817-390-7857Have more to add? News tip? Tell us
