Subpoena documents released in Collier v. Bentley case
Published 5:13 pm Monday, October 15, 2018
Subpoena documents have been released in the lawsuit between Selma Police Chief Spencer Collier and former Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley.
The lawsuit was filed in April 2016 after Bentley fired Collier, who served as secretary of the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA), for an alleged “misuse of state funds.”
More than six months later, Collier was cleared of any wrongdoing by a grand jury.
The suit filed by Collier claims charges of conspiracy and defamation.
Bentley’s attorneys have subpoenaed for all toxicology reports related to Collier from the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences (ADFS) that were taken after an unrelated car accident that Collier was involved in on Aug. 14, 2017, that injured another motorist.
At the time of the crash, Collier was driving an unmarked police SUV issued to him by the City of Selma. In addition to the toxicology results, other documents related to the accident and “any and all communications related to your investigation into Collier’s car accident… including without limitation any internal communications,” have been subpoenaed.
At the time of Collier’s accident, investigators took a blood sample from Collier that was submitted to ADFS for analysis. The results of that test are the subject of the toxicology report Bentley’s attorneys have attempted to subpoena as part of Collier’s civil lawsuit.
Multiple news sources reported the toxicology report from the ADFS shows three prescription drugs — two anti-anxiety medications and a painkiller — in Collier’s system. Collier has previously said he’d had multiple back surgeries after a 2013 on-duty car wreck.
Collier’s lawyers claim that the medication was not a factor in the crash.
The subpoena was filed December of last year, but it is not confirmed if ADFS complied with the 15-day time period to produce reports.
ALEA closed their investigation into the wreck in April of this year with no charges filed.