To the disappointment to Atlanta police officials, the city's civil service board ordered reinstated three officers accused of lying in federal court.
The board left in place the dismissal of a fourth officer accused of lying in the same gun case.
The three were members of the now-disbanded RED DOG unit, which aggressively focused on street-level drug crimes.
The board's orders say Brandon Jackson, Jason Overbaugh and William Porter -- who were all reinstated -- gave testimony in federal court based on a "poorly written" report by James Menzoian, whose firing was was not overturned. The three reinstated officers also depended on their memories to recall events that happened about 150 days earlier, the board explained.
"During the interval, this RED DOG team had made hundreds of stops and hundreds of arrests," the board wrote. "Most individuals would become confused and misspeak without an accurate journal or report to use as a reference."
The board's rulings said the city had not proved the three lied intentionally.
The board said Menzoian, whose appeal was denied, had been dishonest in his report and his court testimony.
"We are very disappointed with the civil service board's decision," said Atlanta police spokesman Carlos Campos. "This board contradicted both the findings of an APD internal investigation and the findings of a federal court. We believe this decision undermines the high standards of integrity and accountability that the APD strives to maintain and does not serve the interests of the citizens of the city of Atlanta."
Even though the board exonerated three of the officers, their honesty still could be questioned if they testify in court, said Frank Rotondo, executive director of the Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police.
"The damage is done," Rotondo said. "Lying... is a serious offense. Their testimony becomes questionable so it ... limits what duties and assignments they have. It clouds their ability to be a productive, traditional street-level officer who makes arrests and has to testify."
Their only option is to "sit in some office somewhere."
The four came to the attention of APD's Office of Professional Standards after a federal prosecutor notified the department that a federal gun case was dropped after a magistrate found their testimony to be "less than candid." The judge refused to accept the evidence against Kelvin Bryant, a felon who was accused of possessing a .45 caliber pistol.
Magistrate Linda Walker's order detailed inconsistencies in their testimonies and she said some of their accounts were hard to believe.
For example, Walker noted that the officers said they checked the tag of Bryant's car before he was stopped, but logs suggest otherwise.
They also testified that they made the stop on Oct. 16, 2008, after noticing a strong smell of marijuana coming from Bryant's Pontiac as they passed it. One of them also said a police dog indicated there were drugs in the trunk of Bryant's car.
Yet, Walker noted, the dog handler testified that no marijuana was found. She also included in her order that the officers reported they did not find any marijuana and the officers sitting on each side of Bryant in the cruiser said he did not smell like pot.
"It seems improbable ... that officers could have smelled marijuana emanating form [Bryant's] moving vehicle while merely passing the car on the street while proceeding in opposite directions.," Walker wrote.
Walker said the officers did not have a legal reason to stop Bryant's car and she found some of their testimony "less than candid."
The U.S. Attorney's office later told APD they would "not be using these officers to testify in any federal cases in the future," according to an email.
Attorney Rachel Samuda, who is representing Porter, said he has not returned to work yet because the city can appeal the board's decision, which has not been made.
"Officer Porter did not knowingly or intentionally lie or mislead the court," Samuda said. "We are extremely happy with the decision. It was a difficult decision. But I believe they made the right choice.
Jackson declined to comment Friday. The other two could not be reached.
Staff writer Jeremiah McWilliams contributed to this article.
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