The Nation - News from July 17, 1988
State District Judge Joe Tunnell ruled during a pretrial hearing in Tyler, Tex., that three white lawmen acquitted of civil rights violations in the beating death of a black inmate can be tried on murder charges in the slaying. Tunnell, denying a defense request to drop the murder charges, said a murder trial would not constitute double jeopardy, or prosecuting a defendant more than once for the same offense. On Friday, a Sabine County jury in Hemphill with one black member acquitted Hemphill Police Chief Thomas Ladner, 41, and Sabine County Deputies James (Bo) Hyden, 35, and Bill Horton, 58, of civil rights violations in the death of Loyal Garner Jr.
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