Liberty County sued for ‘mass grave’ investigation

The owners of a Liberty County property that gained global attention a year ago for a purported mass grave are now suing the Liberty County Sheriffs Office and several media groups.

Joe Bankson and Gena Charltonfiled a lawsuit June 5 in the 193rd Civil District Court in Dallas claiming that the Liberty County Sheriffs Office and the media groups acted in reckless disregard and caused damage to the couples reputation and good name.

On June 6, 2011, Liberty County Sheriffs deputies, assisted by FBI agents, searched the Bankson-Charlton home on CR 2048 near Hardin after the LCSO received a tip that multiple bodies had been buried on the property. Using cadaver dogs, authorities scanned the property but found nothing.

Hours later, after the story gained global media attention, it was revealed that the uncorroborated tip had, in fact, come from a psychic.

Not a single body was found buried in the back yard, said attorney Andrew B. Sommerman, who represents Bankson and Charlton in the lawsuit, by phone Friday. This all started with a psychic who gave them (the Sheriffs Office) a tip a bad psychic who had given the Sheriffs Office tips in the past that were wrong.

Bankson and Charlton, who earn their livelihood from trucking, are now unable to return to their rented home in Hardin because everyone looks at them askance because of the accusations made against them, Sommerman said.

In the lawsuit, the plaintiffs claim that the LCSO also failed to secure their property after the unreasonable search.

Bankson and Charlton gave the LCSO the authority to search the home without a warrant, Sommerman said, but authorities should have taken measures to ensure the property was secure when they left.

Stray dogs were able to get inside the home, and they left presents for my clients, Sommerman said.

The media groups being sued by Bankson and Charlton KPRC in Houston, Belo Corporation, The New York Times, CNN America, Thompson Reuters and ABC News are accused of publishing false statements claiming that bodies had been found on the property or for republishing statements made by other media, thereby making the statements their own.

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Liberty County sued for ‘mass grave’ investigation