Last week, a federal judge granted summary judgment to Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed, effectively dismissing a protracted legal battle between the mayor and his former police chief in a case that also highlighted a very public feud between the state attorney general and the Alabama Ethics Commission.
District Court Judge Kristi K. DuBose ruled that former Montgomery Police Chief Ernest Finley had failed to establish that Reed conspired to have him fired, or that Finley was fired due to racial discrimination or his refusal to give preferential treatment to Black officers.
“Because Reed’s motion and evidentiary materials show that no reasonable jury could find for Finley on any of the claims against him, Reed’s motion for summary judgment is granted,” DuBose’s opinion reads.
Finley resigned in 2021 following a string of public complaints aired by Montgomery Police officers, including an incident at a City Council work session at which several officers claimed to the council that Finley and his second in command, Jennifer Reaves, had retaliated against officers for lodging complaints. The complaints, the officers said, centered on their belief that Finley had given preferential treatment to Reaves, who is white, and some other white officers, while unfairly punishing some Black officers.
Those complaints seem to have originated from an investigation and subsequent punishment of officers for violating MPD’s off-duty work policies. According to DuBose’s opinion, Finley had planned to fire five Black officers for various violations following an investigation by the city, but ultimately Reed intervened and recommended lengthy suspensions for the officers.
Several of the officers caught up in the investigation then aired grievances concerning Finley’s alleged preferential treatment, including reworking MPD rules concerning firearms qualifying after Reaves allegedly failed to meet the minimum score.
Eventually, one of the officers filed a complaint over the policy change with the Alabama Ethics Commission, which ultimately found that both Finley and Reaves had committed one minor violation. In his lawsuit, Finley claimed that Reed and others within city government had conspired with the Ethics Commission investigators during the Commission’s investigation.
However, DuBose noted in her opinion that Finley provided no evidence to support this claim and that the record and evidence showed that city officials actually appeared to work on Finley’s behalf during the ethics investigation by pointing out that multiple handgun qualifications policies existed within the MPD system, potentially creating confusion.
“… nothing in the record indicates that any City actor conspired with the (Ethics Commission) to deprive Finley of his rights,” DuBose’s opinion reads. “The City Attorney advised the AEC that neither Finley nor Reaves had any financial gain from the change in the firearm qualification process and that the City believed there were no ethics violations. The City provided legal representation for Finley and Reaves and paid to defend them. Mayor Reed did not oppose the decision.”
These facts would later draw the ire of AG Steve Marshall, who claimed Ethics Commission investigators Cynthia Raulston and Byron Butler “mishandled” the investigation and failed to disclose exculpatory evidence – presumably the evidence provided by the Montgomery city attorney – that would have exonerated Finley and Reaves. Marshall dismissed the charges against Finley and Reaves and stripped both Raulston and Butler of their ability to represent the state in legal matters.
Marshall’s office also filed a lawsuit in 2022 against the Ethics Commission in an attempt to force it to disclose exculpatory evidence in future cases. It argued that the Commission has a responsibility to present such evidence and that failing to do so can do irreparable harm to those facing ethics charges. That lawsuit was jointly dismissed in late 2023.
The Ethics Commission has never denied that it doesn’t disclose all exculpatory evidence, but it maintains that it is merely one cog in the legal machinery and has no power to charge individuals with crimes. Instead, the Commission refers cases to the AG or district attorneys, at which point any exculpatory evidence can be presented.
In Finley’s case, however, he apparently agreed to plead guilty to a minor ethics violation in order to avoid being charged with a felony ethics violation – a charge that the Commission apparently planned to level despite knowing that evidence existed that would potentially exonerate him.
