The Ellis County Press: Jurors deliver blow to CPS case

Jurors deliver blow to CPS case
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Editor on 12/19/2008 14:35:00


_The Ellis County Press_
WAXAHACHIE - Jurors in a local Child Protective Services trial didn't side with
the state or its expert witnesses in a case one lawyer said will have future
implications for people fighting the agency.
"When the verdict was read I saw a mother's heart come back to life," said
Waxahachie defense lawyer Mark Griffith.
"It is nice to know….for all parents, that the Big Machine that is CPS can be
beaten. I have never felt such love as I did when I hugged my client after the
verdict….her heart and soul (her son) will be coming home."
Several other CPS cases were not so lucky.Garrett resident Natalie Johnson said
CPS investigators in Ellis County were making allegations against her, all
outside a courtroom.
To this day, Johnson said she and her daughter are targeted based off of untrue
allegations.
One mom, Tasha Bryant, said CPS investigators in the Waxahachie office told her
they were retaliating against her for taking her story to _The Ellis County
Press_.
The recent win before Ellis County Court of Law No.1 was the first win in Ellis
County Mark Griffith said he could remember.
"These parents and the family have been through enough, a fight that has lasted
over a year and a half," Griffith said.
"I am not sure, after trying well over 100 jury trials, that this was not my
most important. There is nothing more important than family and this family will
be back together."