01.02.2007 - If the city of Moline fired police officers because their testimony wasn't credible in criminal procedures, they "would not have a police force."
That's one argument a Peoria attorney gave in briefs filed in Rock Island County Circuit Court to get a former Moline police officer his job back.
Attorney Nile Williamson used the hyperbole to counteract accusations that Timothy Keith Saathoff's testimony before the Moline Fire and Police Commission wasn't credible.
Attorneys for the city last week filed briefs in response to the former officer's petition to have a judge review his firing in April. A bench trial is scheduled for Feb. 22.
The commission chose to fire Mr. Saathoff, 33, of Cordova, in April. Chief Gary Francque filed charges with the commission against Mr. Saathoff following the officer's drunken-driving conviction in Scott County.
According to court and commission testimony, Mr. Saathoff called in sick to work June 29, 2005. Beginning at about 6 p.m., he drank up to 10 beers before he was in a collision with a semi tractor-trailer on Interstate 80 near the Colona exit around 3 a.m. the next day.
He called police, and followed the semi into Iowa. Mr. Saathoff underwent two field sobriety tests of the eyes and failed. He passed the other field test given at the scene, a one-leg balance test, but refused to give a portable Breathalyzer test. He was arrested by a Scott County sheriff's deputy. At the station, he refused to take a Breathalyzer test -- saying he knew how inaccurate they were -- and answered questions.
In its written decision, the commission took the same stance as Scott County Judge Mary Howes did in her guilty finding against Mr. Saathoff -- his testimony wasn't credible.
That was one reason the commission chose to fire Mr. Saathoff. They also found that he asked officers for special treatment and breaks because he was a police officer, and the commission believed the belligerence, agitation and aggressiveness Mr. Saathoff displayed that night to be a direct result of his intoxication.
Another matter up for legal contention, Mr. Williamson says in a court brief, is that the commission lacked jurisdiction against Mr. Saathoff because they failed to have the hearing 30 days from when Chief Francque filed the charges.
Attorneys for the city said the hearing was held after 30 days because Mr. Saathoff's attorney at the time waived the time rule.
Moline attorney Jeffrey Lester, representing the city, called such an assertion a "bad faith attack" on the commission’s accommodations to Mr. Saathoff.
At a hearing March 2, weeks after Chief Francque filed the administrative charges against Mr. Saathoff, Fraternal Order of Police attorney Jeff Burke said, "We will waive the 30-day restriction," according to transcripts.
In his brief, Mr. Williamson denies all the allegations against Mr. Saathoff other than the fact that he broke the law, but claims that didn't affect his job as a police officer. "While such off-duty activities may be the basis for some sanction against a police officer, they certainly do not constitute cause for termination," the brief states.
Once Mr. Saathoff was convicted of driving while intoxicated-first offense in Iowa, "the chief merely threw a bucket of charges against the wall to see which one would stick," Mr. Williamson wrote.
Judge Howes sentenced Mr. Saathoff to 120 days in jail but suspended all but two days of the jail time. He was also given a $1,000 fine and must serve one year of unsupervised probation.
In essence, the city stands by its case against Mr. Saathoff. The Iowa appeals court did the same against the state's case in his DUI criminal trial.
The commission, Judge Howes and the appellate court found that it was reasonable to believe he was drunk when he was arrested and his testimony wasn't credible. Mr. Williamson disagrees.
Judge Joseph Beatty will preside over the trial.
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