ALPINE — Brewster County Sheriff Ronny Dodson said last Wednesday that The Big Bend Sentinel reporting on the cause of a conflict between his office and Brewster County Precinct 1 Justice of the Peace Scott Wassermann was not accurate.
“The narrative your ‘sources’ have presented does not accurately reflect the reality of the situation,” Dodson wrote in an email. The sheriff’s email was sent three hours after The Sentinel deadline and was not seen until the newspaper was sent to be printed.
The Sentinel reported that Wassermann had not received any communication from the Brewster County Sheriff’s Office, including important legal/criminal documents, since mid-February, which is unusual for the Alpine-based JP, who also has not magistrated anyone arrested in that period. Wassermann said he has no explanation of why, but two sources who asked to remain anonymous said it was related to decisions the JP made on whether to approve requests for arrest or search warrants based on affidavits of probable cause submitted by the sheriff’s office.
“I understand the importance of accurate and thorough reporting, and I believe there has been a significant misunderstanding or misrepresentation of the facts,” Dodson wrote. “The dismissing of one or any PC affidavit(s)/Warrant(s) has absolutely nothing to do with the failure in communication between JP Wasserman and myself.” Dodson did not respond to a request for additional comment on the conflict.