HOUSTON -- A jury was seated Tuesday in the trial that caused romantic and racist e-mails sent to and from Harris County District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal to be released to the public, KPRC Local 2 reported.

Brothers Erik and Sean Ibarra's civil lawsuit against the county made it to trial about six years after they were involved in an incident with Harris County sheriff's deputies.

"This took too long," attorney Lloyd Kelley said. "The government's lawyers have delayed, delayed, delayed."

The brothers claim several Harris County sheriffs deputies beat them and destroyed evidence as they tried to photograph deputies conducting a drug raid at their neighbor's home in January 2002.

The Ibarras' mother noticed young children were forced to wait outside during the raid, without coats and shoes.

Erik Ibarra said he was standing on his mother's property when he took still pictures of the deputies.

A deputy allegedly demanded Erik Ibarra's camera and went inside his mother's home to get it.

Sean Ibarra claimed he videotaped the confrontation. He said deputies destroyed the video.

The brothers were arrested, but the charges against them were later dropped.

The lawsuit alleged that the sheriff's department allows a different standard in conducting raids in black and Hispanic neighborhoods than what is applied in other neighborhoods.

Harris County Sheriff Tommy Thomas has been named in the lawsuit and has defended the deputies' actions.

"I don't think they did anything wrong," he said.

Thomas said the deputies used force to defend themselves against one of the brothers. One of the brothers allegedly turned to kick and hit a deputy during the confrontation.

Kelley subpoenaed Rosenthal's e-mails as part of the case against the sheriff's office. The e-mails contained romantic messages he sent to his assistant and racist e-mails, including one that showed a picture of a black man laying on a sidewalk surrounded by watermelon and chicken with the caption "fatal overdose."

The Ibarras are seeking monetary damages, training for deputies and policy changes within the sheriff's department.

Opening statements were set to start Wednesday.