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“What truncated the investigation was untimely release of information,” Tyler said, hours after a judge accepted Ratcliff’s guilty plea to aggravated perjury.
In October, the former sheriff worked as Tyler’s chief of staff and was indicted on charges of aggravated sexual assault.
The sex assault case was impossible to prove because testimony from Ratcliff’s accuser was the only evidence, special prosecutor Terry McDonald said. Ratcliff instead admitted he lied about whether he had a sexual relationship with his accuser. Ratcliff and the 25-year-old man had an ongoing relationship when both were adults, Ratcliff’s lawyer George Filley III said.
Tyler interviewed the accuser during the investigation.
“I listened to him. I found him to be credible,” Tyler said. “The investigator found him to be credible.”
McDonald has pointed out the accuser has been arrested many times and is an inmate at the Victoria County Jail.
“We work with witnesses that have credibility issues all the time,” Tyler said. A criminal background doesn’t preclude someone from being a good witness, he said. What matters is if they tell a consistent story, carry themselves well and don’t dodge the issues that tarnish their credibility.
“I think he’s very candid on those issues that might be of a concern,” Tyler said.
But having more time to gather corroborating evidence would have built a better case, Tyler said.
Tyler would not say specifically what free-flowing information prevented deeper digging because it involves pending cases.
Police Chief Bruce Ure, Lt. Ralph Buentello, Mayor Will Armstrong and former city attorney David Smith were indicted in May on charges they plotted to tamper with the case.
“The only thing I would say is naturally we disagree with the district attorney’s assessment,” Ure said.
Ure, Smith and Buentello’s indictments accuse the men of discouraging Ratcliff’s accuser from talking to DPS investigators or Tyler.
The city officials have maintained they became involved because the Ratcliff investigation was going nowhere.
Friday’s plea is sure to be unsatisfying to many people, including the victim, Tyler said.
“It’s a shame,” Tyler said. “The people who are harmed are the state of Texas, its laws and the victim.”