State board investigates Troy chief

TROY — Troy Police Chief Bob McLeod may be facing disciplinary action from a state board.

In a March 1 letter, Wayne Ternes, executive director of the Montana Public Safety Officer Standards and Training Council, put McLeod on notice that Ternes believes there are grounds for sanction, suspension or revocation of his law officer certification.

The council is the state licensing authority for peace officers.

According to Ternes, the state agency initiated an investigation of McLeod after it received complaints from former Troy Police employees and Troy residents. At least one of the complaints is about "excessive use of force" for McLeod's use of a Taser on a man seated in the back seat of a squad car in 2007.

"Several issues have arisen that disturb me, one being the fact that you purposely scribbled out the last paragraph of the ‘code of ethics' that you signed on 10/7/08 which states ‘I will at all times ensure that my character and conduct is admirable and will not bring discredit to my community, my agency or my chosen profession,'" Ternes wrote. "This alone is a violation that should be considered for sanction [penalty] against your certification."

Clay Coker, a compliance officer/investigator with POST, said the department is moving forward to a hearing process for McLeod, but no date has been set yet. Coker said the date would "hopefully [be] in April."

The hearing would be before a 13-member board appointed by the governor.

The city of Troy, through the Montana Municipal Insurance Pool, settled a case for $100,000 in regard to the Taser incident earlier this year.

On March 21, the Troy City Council voted to start a declaratory judgment action to ask a judge whether the city is required to represent McLeod before POST.

Council members Gary Rose, Phil Fisher and John Clogston said they also agreed to hire Amy Guth, a Libby private practice attorney, to represent the city.

Kalispell attorney Todd Hammer stated in a March 4 letter to the Troy City Council that McLeod has requested an attorney. Hammer's law firm of Hammer, Hewitt, Jacobs and Floch represented the city of Troy in the settlement case.

"It is absolutely necessary that he have legal representation in connection with the defense of the POST complaint," Hammer said, noting the firm charges $175 an hour.

Fisher said the mayor told the council he would "take care of it" after the council decided to hire Guth. "If we're obligated to have an attorney for him and we don't, he can sue us," Fisher said.

Mayor Don Banning said he didn't support the council's action in seeking a declaratory judgment.

Banning said the 13-member POST committee meets April 15.

"I don't know if he [McLeod] would need legal representation," Banning said.

In the Taser case, A.J. Haflich filed suit against Troy in federal court in 2009 for excessive use of force in a November 2007 incident. Haflich's hands were cuffed behind his back and he was seat-belted in the police cruiser. Haflich said McLeod Tasered him as punishment for raising his voice and using profanity after his arrest.

McLeod said he deployed his Taser because, after opening the cruiser's rear door, Haflich moved into a position to kick him.

McLeod said he would have rather seen the case go to court. The decision to settle, however, was up to the counsel of the city's insurance carrier, the Montana Municipal Interlocal Authority.

McLeod was put on administrative leave for two weeks in November and December 2009 after Haflich filed the lawsuit, but was reinstated after a three-member committee cleared McLeod of wrongdoing.

The committee interviewed McLeod and watched footage from the cruiser's dashboard video camera, which showed images of the arrest and contained audio of the backseat Tasing. The group did not interview Haflich.

Haflich's case got a boost in August last year when U.S. District Judge Jeremiah Lynch denied McLeod's motion for summary judgment in a 25-page finding that disputed nearly every angle of his defense.

"The only matter asserted by McLeod presenting a viable issue regarding his safety is the issue of whether McLeod was at risk of being kicked by Haflich," the finding read. "But Haflich denies kicking McLeod, and the audio recording does not reflect that Haflich tried to kick McLeod."

After McLeod's defense objected to Lynch's conclusions, U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy reviewed the case and concurred with Lynch.

In the early hours of Nov. 23, 2007, McLeod arrested Haflich on charges of felony driving under the influence and misdemeanor theft after Haflich stole beer from a gas station. Haflich became agitated and belligerent, according to both sides in the case, when he learned that he would have to for his vehicle being towed and impounded. McLeod instructed him to quiet down to allow him to speak on his radio to dispatch.

When he continued to yell, McLeod got out of the vehicle and opened Haflich's door.

The audio indicates that while McLeod stood at the open rear door, he asked Haflich, "Are you gonna be quiet while I talk on the radio?" Haflich responded, "Nope," and then McLeod deployed the Taser.

McLeod asserts that Haflich had swung his legs toward the door, leading him to believe that Haflich was going to kick him.