MONTAGUE COUNTY, TEXAS (KFDX/KJTL)— After a morning of defense witness testimony that did not seem to help his case, suspended Clay County Sheriff Jeff Lyde took the stand Thursday afternoon.

In the trial in Montague County, Lyde is being tried by a jury for alleged official oppression and concealing an official document. The case involves one of two inmates who were allegedly held in jail illegally without due process. On the stand Thursday afternoon, Lyde testified he thought the Henrietta couple was arrested for domestic violence and that the couple had been arrested on a Sunday, not a Friday.

Lyde said the probable cause affidavit was missing, and he didn’t find out they had been held more than 48 hours until later. Lyde also said he thought their rights had already been read. He said he became more involved in the day-to-day operations of the jail after this incident and has learned a lot from it, including changing his vocabulary.

Earlier in the day, the defense called Wilbarger County District Attorney Investigator Jeff Case to testify about his efforts to gather evidence for the special prosecutor. Case testified he believed Lyde tried to withhold documents and tried to intimidate him. He said Lyde told him he had high-powered lawyers and would make everyone involved in the case against him look like fools.

Case said Lyde even told him to crawl back under the rock he came from. After Lyde finished testifying, DPS special agent Jake Weaver was called as a closing state witness. Weaver said Lyde was his supervisor when Lyde worked for the DPS near San Antonio, and that Lyde’s reputation among other law agencies is bad

Both sides then closed, and jurors will begin deliberating on Friday.