By Laura Bauer, The Courier-Journal (Louiseville, Ken.)
Former Metro Police Detective McKenzie Mattingly wants his job back, and his attorney said Wednesday’s acquittal means there’s a good chance he’ll get it.
Mattingly is requesting a hearing this month before the police merit board to ask that he be reinstated as a detective with the Louisville Metro Police Department, attorney Mark Miller said.
Miller has represented Mattingly in administrative proceedings since the former detective fatally shot Michael Newby, 19, during an undercover drug deal that went awry Jan. 3.
The merit board, a panel of five citizens and two police officers, has the power to overturn Police Chief Robert White’s decision to fire Mattingly because of the shooting.
“He is looking forward to coming back,” Miller said yesterday. Mattingly “will fight this battle as long as need be to get back his good name, get back his career and get him and his family back where they were.”
Mattingly was indicted in March on murder and wanton endangerment charges in Newby’s death and was fired in April for violating police policy.
White said those violations included breaking laws and shooting Newby even though the teenager didn’t pose an “immediate threat.” Mattingly had options other than using deadly force, the chief said.
Wednesday night, a Jefferson County jury acquitted Mattingly of murder, reckless homicide and manslaughter in Newby’s death.
The jury couldn’t decide whether to convict Mattingly of wanton endangerment for firing in the direction of several bystanders the night of the shooting, and Circuit Judge Judith McDonald-Burkman declared a hung jury on that count.
Prosecutors haven’t decided whether to retry Mattingly on the charge.
Once that charge is disposed of, Miller said, Mattingly would have a “good case” to be reinstated by the merit board.
The acquittal shows Mattingly broke no laws, Miller said. And although White said the detective had other options, “the chief never told him what those were,” Miller said.
White said shortly after the verdict that he stands by his decision to fire Mattingly.
A police department commander said yesterday that the acquittal doesn’t mean that the administrative violations against Mattingly automatically will be dismissed.
“The burden of proof is less for administrative charges than criminal charges,” said Maj. Tim Emington, who oversees the Professional Standards Unit that investigated Mattingly.
Miller said he doesn’t know when the hearing would be. Once the merit board makes a decision, either side can appeal to circuit court.
The thought of Mattingly regaining his job has infuriated some. Civil rights activist Mattie Jones said if Mattingly was put back on the force, the city would see “civil disobedience.”
“This verdict shouldn’t be used to question (White’s) decision,” said Alice Wade of the Kentucky Alliance against Racist and Political Repression. “Mattingly deserves a punishment, not just a thank you.”
But some officers and police union leaders say Mattingly should be a detective again.
The verdict is proof he did nothing “but defend himself,” said Richard Dotson, president of the local Fraternal Order of Police. “The man has been found innocent, and certainly he would be entitled to his job back.”