Fire and Police Commission: Christopher Manney appeal hearing set for last week in February

Officer Christopher Manney, -- who shot and killed Dontre Hamilton on April 30, 2014 -- filed his disciplinary appeal with the City of Milwaukee Board of Fire and Police Commissioners on October 17, 2014, almost four months ago. To-date, no disciplinary appeal trial dates have been scheduled, the names of the Commissioners who will hear evidence during the disciplinary trial have yet to be announced, and a scheduling order for the disciplinary hearing has not been set.

As everyone is well aware by now, on October 15, 2014, Milwaukee Police Chief Edward Flynn terminated Christopher Manney from the City of Milwaukee Police Department. This occurred two days after Christopher Manny submitted an application for Duty-Disability benefits and claimed that he suffered the mental illness of post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of killing Mr. Hamilton. Two days after his termination, on October 17, 2014, Christopher Manney filed an appeal of his discipline and termination with the City of Milwaukee Board of Fire and Police Commissioners. Following those events, the Hamilton family, the attorneys for the Hamilton family, Milwaukee citizens, and Hamilton family supporters attended numerous Board of Fire and Police Commissioners meetings to inquire about the status of Christopher Manney’s disciplinary appeal trial and express their opinions about how that trial should be decided.

Initially, the Board of Fire and Police Commissioners indicated that the disciplinary appeal trial could not be scheduled until sixty days had elapsed following the appeal request. The Board of Fire and Police Commissioners then indicated that the disciplinary appeal trial would not be scheduled until after District Attorney John Chisolm made his criminal charging decision. After the December 22, 2014 criminal charging decision, the Board of Fire and Police Commissioners indicated that the disciplinary appeal trial would be scheduled during the first week of February.

Most recently, the Board of Fire and Police Commissioners indicated that the disciplinary appeal trial would be scheduled during the early part of February.

We are approaching the end of the first week of February. The attorneys for the Hamilton family have today been advised that there has not yet been communication between the attorneys for Chief Flynn and the City of Milwaukee, with the attorneys representing Christopher Manney about scheduling the disciplinary appeal trial. According to the Rules of the Board of Fire and Police Commissioners, the Board is to notify the appellant (Christopher Manney) of a trial date and also serve a Scheduling Order to both the appellant and the Chief of the Department “fixing the time and place of the trial not less than sixty (60) days nor more than one hundred and twenty (120) days after service of the notice to the member (Christopher Manney), a pretrial date not less than seven (7) days prior to the trial date, and time limitations for discovery and motions (emphasis added).” It is believed that these procedures and notices have not yet been accomplished, even though almost four months, actually 111 days, have passed since Christopher Manney’s appeal was submitted.

After waiting for almost eight months for the District Attorney to make a charging decision, the Hamilton family and Milwaukee citizens are now waiting almost four months since Christopher Manney filed his disciplinary appeal with the Board of Fire and Police Commissioners to schedule the disciplinary appeal trial. Once again, no timeline is being provided by the Board of Fire and Police Commissioners for the disciplinary appeal trial, in the same manner as when no timeline was provided by the Department of Justice, Division of Criminal Investigation for the criminal investigation to be completed, and in the same manner as when no timeline was provided by District Attorney John Chisholm for his charging decision. It is simply unconscionable and unfair to make a family, and those who seek justice for the death of Mr. Hamilton, to keep waiting for the City of Milwaukee Board of Fire and Police Commissioners to take action and appropriately deal with this matter.