State defends firing of trooper who kicked dog

RALEIGH -- A lawyer for the state today defended the firing of a state Highway Patrol trooper who was caught on video repeatedly kicking his police dog.

Charlie Jones, a sergeant and 12-year veteran of the agency, has said that he was simply training his canine partner, Ricoh, after the dog failed to release a piece of fire hose. Jones is trying to get his job back.

But Assistant Attorney General Ashby Ray today urged the state Personnel Commission to watch the videotape before making a decision. The tape, shot with a cell phone camera by another trooper, shows that the dog was suspended from a porch railing at the time, with its hind paws barely touching ground.

Jones' "actions speak for themselves," Ray said. "The videotape is clear."

The Personnel Commission heard arguments from Ray as well as Jones' lawyer, Jack O'Hale, this morning. Commission members did not say when they would issue a ruling.

O'Hale pointed out that in a prior hearing, other witnesses had defended Jones.

"What was done here was training, and everybody who testified in this case, including [patrol internal affairs Capt. Ken] Castelloe, said there was no intent to hurt the dog and the dog was not hurt," O'Hale said.

In June, a state administrative law judge said Jones should be reinstated with back pay. Judge Fred Morrison Jr. said the patrol was under pressure from the governor's office to get rid of Jones and short-circuited the normal procedures for disciplining troopers.

But Bryan Beatty, secretary of the state Department of Crime Control and Public Safety, which oversees the patrol, has said he -- not the governor -- decided to fire Jones.

Members of the Personnel Commission peppered both attorneys with questions about the case. They wanted to know whether Jones' actions defied common sense and whether his firing was handled properly.

One commissioner, E. Wayne Peedlin, asked near the end of the hearing whether the patrol has changed its policy on training its dogs since the incident last year involving Jones.

In fact, the patrol has suspended its canine program while it reviews its internal policies.