Jeff Davis County characterizes journalist David Flash as having fallen and knocked over his camera before he was detained at a 2025 commissioners court meeting, but published video stills show Chief Deputy Adriana Ruiloba physically holding Flash while he remained upright several feet from the camera.
The Big Bend Sentinel described the encounter differently, reporting that Flash was “wrestled to ground” and captioning a sequence of still images as showing him being “grabbed and pulled to the back” of the meeting room.
The county’s account appears in a 30-page answer filed July 22 in Flash v. Jeff Davis County, a federal civil rights lawsuit pending in the Western District of Texas.
The county admits Flash’s camera was knocked over but says it “appears to have been knocked over when the Plaintiff fell prior to the detention.”
Flash disputes both that characterization and the sequence it presents.
He said he was standing upright several feet from the camera when Ruiloba grabbed his arm, dug into it hard enough to break the skin and did not let go. Published stills from the video show Flash still standing while Ruiloba has her hands on him.
Flash said Ruiloba then pulled him toward the back of the room. When they reached the area near the camera, Deputy Joseph Giesbrecht joined the physical seizure. Flash said the deputies took him down, causing him to fall and knocking over the camera during the detention.
The county’s wording portrays the fall as something Flash did before he was detained. Flash says he fell because the deputies physically took him down.
Flash has practiced yoga since 2010 and regularly performs balance-intensive hatha postures, including standing bow, tree and balancing stick.
“I am good at standing,” Flash said.
The distinction is significant because it bears directly on whether the fall, injuries and knocked-over camera resulted from the deputies’ use of force.
The Sentinel’s June 29, 2025, headline described Flash as having been “wrestled to ground.” Its published image sequence shows Ruiloba approaching Flash and then physically controlling him while he is still upright near the back of the room.
Flash later sought medical care for injuries that included broken skin, bruising, wrist abrasions and pain.
County admits sheriff could have stopped detention
Jeff Davis County also admits in the filing that Sheriff Victor Lopez could have stopped Flash’s detention and arrest after returning to the June 27, 2025, budget workshop but instead allowed an investigation to continue for approximately 30 minutes.
“Once Sheriff Lopez was present, he could have stopped the detention and arrest but elected to conduct an investigation,” the county states.
The county admits Lopez was outside the meeting room when Ruiloba initially seized Flash and returned shortly afterward.
It also admits Flash was handcuffed, detained and questioned for about 30 minutes before deputies issued him a disorderly conduct citation. Multiple body-camera recordings confirm the duration of the questioning, according to the filing.
The citation was later dismissed.
The county denies Flash was detained because he was photographing officials or covering the public meeting. It argues that deputies had reasonable suspicion and probable cause and says the individual defendants acted in self-defense and to protect county employees, officers and the public.
The filing does not identify the specific conduct that allegedly required self-defense or which subsection of Texas’ disorderly conduct law Flash supposedly violated.
The statute contains numerous separate offenses. The citation issued to Flash did not identify one.
County acknowledges Lopez’s authority
The county acknowledges that Lopez may be a final policymaker for certain county law enforcement decisions.
It also acknowledges that a single unconstitutional act by a final policymaker can, under some circumstances, create municipal liability.
The county denies that Lopez committed a constitutional violation and maintains that reasonable suspicion and probable cause justified his actions.
That leaves a factual dispute over what Lopez knew when he returned, what offense he believed had occurred and why he chose to continue the detention for about 30 minutes rather than end it.
Filing admits Evans issued directive
The county’s answer also admits that recordings show then-Jeff Davis County Judge Curtis Evans issuing a directive to deputies during the incident.
The filing refers to the deputies as “bailiffs,” although the incident occurred during a Jeff Davis County Commissioners Court budget workshop, not a judicial proceeding.
Evans admitted in a separate answer that he directed a deputy to arrest Flash.
Evans also admitted issuing an earlier order prohibiting Flash from coming within 300 feet of county buildings, officials and employees.
That ban was overturned after a state district court granted Flash’s application for a writ of habeas corpus. The court found that Evans lacked legal authority to issue the order.
County admits interview and footage were provided
Jeff Davis County also admits that an interview and video footage were provided after Flash’s detention.
“An interview was requested by a reporter and was provided and that footage was requested and also provided,” the county states.
The recipient was a website created and operated by one person that used the name of Flash’s publication without affiliation. Its content focused on Flash, his journalism and people associated with him rather than providing general coverage of the community.
The site did not operate as a conventional news organization with broad local coverage or recognizable editorial standards.
The county objects to Flash’s description of it as a “smear website,” calling the wording argumentative. It nevertheless admits that the interview and footage were provided.
The county denies the release was retaliatory or part of a conspiracy.
Flash says he never interrupted proceedings
The county maintains that officials were responding to disruptive behavior, but Flash says he never addressed commissioners or anyone else during the proceedings.
He said his communications were limited to whispers, written notes and direct responses when officials confronted him.
That included an exchange in which Ruiloba stood in the narrow route to the door and aggressively told Flash to get out of her personal space as he attempted to leave.
Flash told her he was trying to exit and that she was blocking the door.
The Sentinel reported that its review of the video showed Flash speaking in a low voice during the exchange.
The entire meeting was livestreamed, and a link to the recording was made available to journalists reviewing the incident. The Sentinel and The Texas Tribune examined video before publishing their coverage.
Neither outlet described Flash as repeatedly speaking over commissioners, addressing the governing body out of order or preventing county business from continuing.
Journalists routinely move to photograph meetings
Evans’ public criticism after the incident focused heavily on Flash moving around the room and taking photographs.
“He was bouncing all over the courtroom, taking photographs during open court,” Evans told the Sentinel.
“It was annoying, it was disruptive, and it was not something you do in court.”
The event was a commissioners court budget workshop, not a judicial proceeding. The fact that the meeting was held in a room also used as a courtroom did not transform it into a court hearing.
Journalists routinely move around public meetings to photograph different officials, attendees, presentations and reactions from multiple angles.
Flash said he complied when officials directed him to place his livestream camera at the back of the room. He continued moving with a separate still camera and said no one told him that he had to remain seated or restrict his photography to one location.
The county admits that Flash initially moved the livestream camera to the rear of the room.
Other attendees spoke during meeting
Other attendees moved around and verbally entered the proceedings during the workshop.
Scott and Melanie Blackman spoke up while commissioners were discussing a plan to install one Keep Texas Beautiful community sign. They offered to donate funds for a second sign and proposed a location for it.
Flash did not participate verbally in that discussion.
He sat near the Blackmans and passed them a note so he could accurately record the name of the person being honored in connection with the proposal. He did not photograph the Blackmans.
Melanie Blackman had tipped Flash to attend the meeting because the county owed money to a contractor for work tied to a federal grant, but the federal funds had not arrived. Commissioners were considering using other county funds to pay the bill while awaiting reimbursement.
Flash said he attended to report on that financial issue.
The attendees who spoke up and proposed modifying county action were permitted to continue participating. Flash, who says he did not address the governing body, was characterized as disruptive for moving around the room and taking photographs.
Video captured physical encounter
The Sentinel reported that Flash attempted to leave the room following exchanges with Lopez and Ruiloba. He later returned to photograph Ruiloba.
Ruiloba then moved quickly toward Flash and grabbed him. Giesbrecht joined the detention near the area where Flash’s camera had been positioned.
Flash can be heard repeatedly saying he was not resisting.
The county’s characterization of Flash as having fallen before the detention is likely to become a disputed issue in the lawsuit, along with whether the deputies caused the fall and whether the force they used was reasonable.
County raises immunity defenses
Jeff Davis County denies liability and asks the court to dismiss the claims against it.
The county invokes governmental immunity, qualified immunity, official immunity, prosecutorial immunity, Eleventh Amendment immunity and statutory limits on damages.
It also argues that no official county policy or custom caused a violation of Flash’s constitutional rights and that punitive damages cannot be recovered from the county.
Several municipal-liability theories have already been dismissed. The county’s answer nevertheless acknowledges that Lopez may be a final policymaker for certain law enforcement decisions and that he could have stopped the detention after returning to the meeting room.
Jeff Davis County has requested a jury trial.
