First amendment auditor and YouTuber Manuel Mata fought back in his on-going lawsuit against controversial Fort Worth, Texas, police officer Matthew Krueger as Krueger has asked for a stay in the proceedings since the legal cases that Mata is suing over have yet to play out in Texas courts.
Mata filed his lawsuit in February alleging that Krueger had been targeting him for arrest as Krueger supposedly hated first amendment auditors. According to the filing, Krueger has arrested Mata on multiple occasions and had no basis for the arrests.
Krueger is most famous for a 2024 incident with YouTuber Carolyn “Carolina in Ft. Worth” Rodriguez that left her hospitalized. He briefly lost his job after an excessive force review, but was reinstated to the police force upon further review as it was determined that he followed police training.
Mata is seeking “all appropriate relief at law and equity. Economic losses on all claims as allowed by law. Compensatory and consequential damages, including damages for emotional distress, humiliation, loss of enjoyment of life, and other pain and suffering on all claims allowed by law in an amount to be determined at trial.” He’s also seeking punitive damages and attorney’s fees.
In mid-August, Krueger’s attorney filed for an emergency stay of the lawsuit, stating:
Two of Plaintiff Manuel Mata’s related underlying criminal cases remain pending and unresolved. In other words, much of the subject matter of this civil action is currently being litigated in related state criminal cases pending against Plaintiff arising from the same police encounter and resulting arrest that Plaintiff contests in this case. This case, therefore, should immediately be stayed until Plaintiff’s related criminal cases are resolved.
Mata’s attorney, E. Milo Schwab, responded this week with:
Landis forbids stays of “immoderate stretch.” 299 U.S. at 257. Defendant’s proposed order would administratively close the entire case, conditioning the reopening on Plaintiff’s compliance with a rolling 90-day reporting period and that could result in a dismissal of the case. That effort, borrowed from an order managing a pro se litigant, is disproportionate to this case where more than two years later, two insignificant charges remain. Plaintiff has pursued this case, has paid the filing fees, and has many issues which are already ripe for discovery. Witnesses’ memories will fade and potentially records will be destroyed. And Defendant’s effort to place this burden on is patently unjust.
If the Court determines that a stay is appropriate, Plaintiff respectfully proposed that it should be limited as follows:
1) The stay should only reach claims 2, 3, and 6;
2) Claims 1, 4, and 5 should proceed to responsive pleading and discovery in the ordinary course of litigation;
3) The stay should terminate automatically upon the final resolution of the Fort Worth Municipal citations, with the Parties directed to file a joint notice within 14 days of that resolution; and
4) The case should remain open on the Court’s docket.
Schwab has famously represented YouTuber Christopher “Denver Metro Audits” Cordova during his trial for various charges related to auditing a Social Security Administration building. Cordova was ultimately convicted in that case.
This is a developing news story.
