Circuit Judge Collins Pettaway denied the attorney’s motion to have the case dismissed against the three Selma Police Department (SPD) officers under investigation by the Attorney General on Friday at the Dallas County Courthouse.

SPD officers Toriano Neely, Jeffrey Hardy and Kendall Thomas are charged with “knowingly falsifying, concealing or covering up material or making a false statement in a matter under investigation by the Attorney General’s office.”

Montgomery-based attorney Julian McPhillips, who represents the three officers, said he will file a motion through the court of Criminal Appeals and the Supreme Court.

“We filed a motion to have the case dismissed because it has no validity,’ McPhillips said. “The whole case is bizarre.”

When McPhillips asked the Attorney General’s office about evidence, Alabama Assistant Attorney General Andrew Arrington provided over 30,000 documents downloaded to an external hard drive in response to his clients’ request for information “allegedly relevant” to the state’s case against them.

McPhillips filed a motion to strike the state’s response on Dec. 10.

“They may have spoken about something to the Attorney General that wasn’t accurate,” McPhillips said. “They don’t know when or where the meeting took place or who they talked to. These officers still don’t know what they did or have been accused of. It’s not like they stole something from the mailroom.”

The state’s attorney general office also has concerns about either Pettaway or Circuit Court Judge Marvin Wiggins presiding over the case because they allegedly attended a meeting with the SPD. They want Pettaway and Wiggins to recuse themselves.

Pettaway said he will talk with the state to see if there’s a conflict of interest.

“The only thing I could testify to would be something factual,” Pettaway said.

McPhillips said the case has a lot of political ramifications and hinted race may be a factor.

“I have the utmost respect for Judge Pettaway,” McPhillips said. “They want a white, conservative judge to come in here and tell the officers they did something wrong. It’s an attempt to get both Pettaway and Wiggins off the case.”

McPhillips said he believes the state’s action revolved around “improper ties between the mayor’s office, the attorney general’s office and the [Selma] Chief of Police.”

“The Attorney General’s office should be embarrassed,” McPhillips said. “Whoever’s responsible for this should be embarrassed and apologize.”

“That’s just asinine,” said SPD Chief Spencer Collier in regard to McPhillips’ accusations of collusion, noting that he doesn’t think the mayor and the Attorney General have ever met in person.

“Those officers deserve due process like everyone else and have a right to a vigorous defense, but those officers were indicted by a Dallas County grand jury,” Collier said. “The people of this community returned that indictment.”

As for the specific allegations against the three officers, Collier said he didn’t have any further information since the investigation is being overseen by the Attorney General’s office.

“I’m not the proper person to speak on that,” Collier said. “We are not the investigative agency overseeing this case.”

After the hearing, McPhillips and the three officers, as well as former Parks and Recreation Department Administrative Assistant Carneetie Ellison, went down to city hall to find out about the status of at least three requests sent to the city on behalf of the officers and Ellison since October.

The requests were sent by McPhillips to secure a hearing for the officers and Ellison before the city’s Personnel Board.

According to McPhillips, Selma Human Resources Director Sean Vandiver said the officers and Ellison would not be allowed a hearing before the Personnel Board because they are “ineligible” for such a hearing.

Vandiver provided no further explanation as to why the former employees are ineligible for a hearing, McPhillips added.

“That’s totally bogus,” McPhillips said. “They’re trying every trick in the book in the utmost bad faith. This is absurd. It’s a highly oppressive thing.”

Vandiver, however, is not a member of the city’s Personnel Board and, according to board member Al Perry, the board never made a decision regarding whether or not the former employees were eligible for a hearing.

Further, Perry said, since he has been on the board, at least one terminated employee was afforded an opportunity to have a hearing before the board.

“As I understand it, termination is one of the conditions that an employee can request a hearing for regarding their situation,” Perry said. “It’s very unfortunate that there appears to be an adversarial relationship between city hall and the city employees.”

According to Perry, Vandiver told him that the workers were not eligible for a hearing when he asked whether or not the board would be taking up the issue.

“I’m appalled at how dysfunctional city government has gotten since this administration took office,” Ellison said.

For her part, Ellison noted that she doesn’t know what more she can do to fight for her job – she is currently suffering “punitive damage” and is going without health insurance.

“It’s a waiting game,” Ellison said. “It’s ridiculous. Sean Vandiver’s allowed to highjack the city and do whatever he sees fit.”

Vandiver did not respond to requests for comment.