Judge Steve Walker featured on KSAT-12 Defenders, 5-11

Judge Steve Walker was featured in a Defenders story with Reporter Brian Mylar on KSAT-12, (10 p.m.) May 11th on a Small Claims by a SA Police Officer against the city for damage to his vehicle.

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 Or click on SAPD Officer takes City to Court. Click here: dlvr.it/1YQf0z

It is a classic story about the little guy fighting city hall. In this case, it's a San Antonio police officer taking on his own employer to get what he said is only right.

  

In October 2010, Patrol Officer Jim Price's Chevy Cobalt was dented on the side. He was driving to work on Prue Road while Public Works employee Johnny Martinez was mowing the grass on a big city tractor.

  

"Just when I passed him, a great big bang occurred," Price said. The mower hit debris in the grass, sending it into the road and damaging the car. Price asked the city to pay his insurance deductible but the city declined.

  

"I said, 'I'm not here to try to get anything I don't deserve,'” Price said. “'I'm just here to try to even the score. You damaged my property and I want payment.'"

 The city kept refusing and he kept pressing his case.A year and a half later, he got his answer after pleading his case to jurors in Justice of the Peace Stephen Walker’s court.

  

Price represented himself in the case. The city had an assistant city attorney, the mower driver, the driver's supervisor and a city safety expert in the courtroom. The city did not deny that the mower dented Price’s car, but Assistant City Attorney Rene Benavides argued there was no negligence and the city should not pay.

  

The jury agreed.

  

"Do you find from a preponderance of evidence that defendant is indebted to the plaintiff,” Judge Walker read in open court. “The answer: No."

  

Price was disappointed but glad the odyssey was over. He also marveled at how much the city spent to defend a $500 claim.

"The investigation of the whole mess, the documentation of it, filing records and so forth, probably thousands of dollars," Price said. Plus it cost the city for the time four employees spent in court. The city said it is not about the money.

"Mr. Martinez, our employee in this particular instance with Public Works, he acted reasonably," Benavides said. So while citizens can fight city hall, they just might lose. Those city employees who were involved in this case were in court for about half a day and spent untold time before that investigating.

Here is a look at their annual salaries:

• Rene Benavides, Asst. City Attorney: $82,661
• Jay Cantu, Public Works supervisor: $41,514
• Bart Bird, Public Works Safety specialist: $34,396.96
• Johnny Martinez, Public Works equipment operator: $34,290