Fired Kentucky Officer Acquitted Of Murder to Appeal Firing In December

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Associated Press

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) -- A former Louisville police officer asking for his job back after a jury acquitted him of murder will go before the Police Merit Board in December.

A jury acquitted fired Detective McKenzie Mattingly last month in the shooting death of 19-year-old Michael Newby during an undercover drug deal gone awry.

The merit board decided Tuesday to hear Mattingly's appeal on Dec. 14 and 15, and Jan. 13, 14 and 18. The board, a panel of five citizens and two police officers, has the power to overturn firings.

An officer can request that a hearing be closed, but it wasn't clear whether Mattingly would make that request, said Jeff Prewitt, who acts as secretary to the board. The board reaches its decisions in private, but the votes are cast in public, he said.

Mattingly was indicted in March on charges of murder and wanton endangerment. The jury acquitted him of murder, but it couldn't come to a decision on the wanton endangerment charge and prosecutors dropped the charge.

Mattingly shot Newby three times in the back after the botched drug deal in a liquor store parking lot in Louisville. Mattingly testified during the trial that he feared his life was in danger just before he fired. Newby was found with a .45-caliber handgun, some cocaine and marijuana after the shooting.

..and why shouldn't the cop ask to be reinstated?
This doesn't read like a "murder" to me, it reads like an acquittal for self defense.

Was the perp shot in the back or front? Huge difference, IMO. Fair play & all that shit.

Quoted: ..and why shouldn't the cop ask to be reinstated? This doesn't read like a "murder" to me, it reads like an acquittal for self defense.

We weren't there, and we don't have all the facts, so we shouldn't be taking about it!



Just kidding! Thats what it sounds like to me. Maybe he was turned around reaching for his piece?