Citing privacy concerns, Huntsville wont explain why convicted officer is still employed – AL.com

The city of Huntsville isnt explaining why it hasnt rescheduled a disciplinary hearing for the police officer convicted of murder more than three weeks ago.

To somebody who is familiar with the citys process its really astounding, said Eric Artrip, a Huntsville attorney who has more than a decade of experience representing city employees in disciplinary hearings.

Ive never seen a city employee afforded the opportunity to remain on the payroll and ride it out using their accrued leave, he said. That just hasnt happened in my experience.

Will Culver, who was a Huntsville city councilman for 12 years, said the city could have avoided this predicament if it had either fired Darby or put him on leave without pay after he was indicted. If Darby was acquitted at trial, Culver said, the city could have reinstated him and given him back pay.

If it had been an officer that the chief of police wanted to terminate who had been in a situation like that or who was not in good graces with the mayor, said Culver, that never would have happened like that.

He would have been terminated before he was indicted, if you want to know the truth, he said, because they wouldnt want to have that on the citys roll as one of their own indicted. They went above and beyond to protect this officer.

In a statement released almost two weeks after Officer William Ben Darbys conviction, the city said it had scheduled and then later indefinitely postponed a disciplinary hearing to consider whether to fire Darby.

The city said it canceled the hearing because Darby availed himself to certain rights under federal law and changed his status from leave with pay to accrued pay.

As a result, his formal hearing has been postponed and will be promptly rescheduled to a later date following a change in his leave status, the city said in the statement.

City Attorney Trey Riley in an interview with AL.com last week declined to cite which laws the city took into account when it indefinitely postponed Darbys disciplinary hearing. Riley said that identifying which laws are involved could be a violation of Darbys privacy.

Under federal law, attorneys told AL.com, Darby could be entitled to postponement of his hearing if he is on medical or sick leave.

Riley declined to comment further on Darbys leave status, but said Darby is not on vacation.

We are treating Mr. Darby the same as we would a similarly situated city employee, Riley told AL.com.

But some attorneys and employment law experts question whether Darby is getting preferential treatment from city officials who have defended him since he shot and killed Jeff Parker three years ago.

Its just a very curious result, given the facts of this particular case, said Artrip. Far less serious infractions have resulted in termination within days, without a look at accrued leave.

Attorneys representing Darby in his employment case declined to comment and referred all questions to the city attorneys office.

The city has faced criticism including from two former federal prosecutors for keeping Darby employed after his conviction.

This situation in Huntsville, Alabama, where an officer convicted of the murder of a suicidal man who called for help, is still employed by the PD is badly wrong, Joyce White Vance, a former U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama wrote on Twitter. It will take a public spotlight to fix it, apparently a conviction wasnt enough.

Jay Town, Vances successor, also weighed in on Twitter.

Riley told AL.com the city did not pursue a disciplinary hearing after Darby was indicted because calling him to testify in the hearing would have violated his Fifth Amendment right to remain silent about the pending murder charge.

Peter Joffrion was the city attorney in Huntsville for 30 years until he retired in 2015. He explained how the disciplinary hearing process works.

At a disciplinary hearing, both the city and the employee can present arguments and witnesses to a hearing officer. Joffrion said the city has a roster of local attorneys who agree to serve as hearing officers.

The hearing officer decides the facts and sends a report to the employees department head. The department head in Darbys case thats police Chief Mark McMurray decides whether punishment is appropriate and what the punishment should be.

If the employee is fired, the city would have to pay them for their accrued benefits, like vacation days.

In Darbys disciplinary hearing, the city will have to show evidence proving he was convicted of a felony murder and stripped of his law enforcement certification.

The city hasnt yet rescheduled a disciplinary hearing.

Darby was found guilty of murder on May 7. Another officer testified against Darby, saying that she was trying to de-escalate the situation with Parker, a man who wanted to kill himself, before Darby showed up and killed him.

Mayor Tommy Battle and Chief McMurray have continued to support Darby, saying they disagreed with the jurys decision.

Meanwhile, Darby awaits sentencing for his murder conviction on Aug. 20 in Madison County Circuit Judge Donna Pates courtroom.

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Citing privacy concerns, Huntsville wont explain why convicted officer is still employed - AL.com