NASHVILLE, Tennessee–The attorney for Deana Inman, the alleged victim of IRS revenue agent Samuel Garza, who was indicted in October on two felony counts of sexual battery, has filed a $1 million injury claim on her behalf against the United States Department of the Treasury.
Nashville attorney W. Gary Blackburn submitted the “Claim for Damage, Injury, or Death” (Form OMB No. 1105-0008) to the U.S. Department of the Treasury last week, shortly after suing Garza individually in federal court, NewsChannel5 reports:
The claim document, which can be read here, states:
Attached is a Bivens Complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of TN and the indictment of IRS Revenue Agent Samuel Garza in Williamson County. The facts alleged therein are incorporated here by reference. Mr. Garza’s wife asked in a recorded telephone conversation in jail why he was permitted to call on Mrs. Inman without supervision after “the last time.” The Agency failed properly to train Garza and to supervise him.
According to the American Bar Association, Bivens Complaints are “lawsuits against federal officers for violation of your constitutional rights.”
The claim for damages against the U.S. Department of the Treasury indicated that Ms. Inman suffered “significant emotional and psychological stress for which medical treatment has been sought.”
It lists the wife of Samuel Garza, “Mrs. Garza (FNU)” as a witness in the claim as well as a witness in the criminal indictment.
Williamson County, Tennessee district attorney Kim Helper tells Breitbart News that Garza is currently scheduled for a jury trial in November on the criminal charges.
As NewsChannel 5 reported, “The court filings raise questions about whether the IRS may have ignored some red flags”:
“Going by the way that this man did stuff, this man was only getting bolder,” the victim in the case, Deana Inman, said in an exclusive interview with NewsChannel 5 Investigates.
The alleged assault occurred during a compliance check of Inman’s Fairview convenience store.
“When somebody tells you they’re gonna put you in jail, they’re gonna take your business away, I don’t know what more he could have done to me,” Deana said.
The business owner said Garza had looked her up on Facebook — and he knew she had a disabled husband and a young daughter.
At some point, inside a private office, she said Garza threatened that she might lose it all.
“We went from [him] showing me how to take checks to now I’m going to jail and they’re taking the business. And I’m trying to figure out: who’s going to take care of my husband and what’s going to happen to my daughter.”
NewsChannel 5 Investigates asked, “Do you think he was trying to say that he had power over you?”
“Yeah, I think he knew exactly what he was doing.”
That’s when, she said, Garza made his move — first choking her, then repeatedly fondling her.
“He couldn’t have accomplished any of the terrible things he’s alleged to have done without making use of his badge, so to speak,” attorney Blackburn told NewsChannel5. “If you hire enough people and you give them this sort of power, an abuse of that power will eventually occur,” Blackburn continued in his interview with NewsChannel 5 investigative reporter Phil Williams.
Garza remains employed by the IRS, pending the outcome of his jury trial in November.
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