Columbus deputy’s discrimination suit moving forward after judge drops charge against her

A Superior Court judge has quashed a criminal indictment against a suspended Muscogee County deputy marshal with a pending federal civil rights lawsuit against the marshal and the city government.

Deputy Alicia Narsis Davenport’s 2014 lawsuit against the city and Marshal Greg Countryman was put on hold in 2015, at her request, until all her administrative appeals were exhausted and the criminal case against her was resolved.

That case was resolved Thursday when Superior Court Judge Ben Land dismissed a felony charge alleging Davenport violated her oath of office on Oct. 28, 2013, when she left the scene of a traffic accident without giving the information she’d collected there to a Columbus police officer investigating the wreck.

Davenport was the first officer to arrive at the three-vehicle accident at Forrest Road and Wellborn Drive, and stopped to help the injured. She said that when accident investigator Doug Dunlap of the police motor squad got there, he declined her assistance, so she decided to leave. A confrontation ensued, and Dunlap later claimed Davenport’s cruiser hit his right leg as she drove off.

Davenport was arrested Dec. 12, 2013, but a Muscogee County grand jury did not indict her until Oct. 27, 2017, right before the statute of limitations for the offense expired.

In an Oct. 11 hearing before Land, her attorneys J. Mark Shelnutt and William Kendrick argued a state law requires prosecutors to give a peace officer accused of a crime 20 days’ notice before a grand jury hears the allegation. By ensuring law enforcement officers have adequate time to present their side to the grand jury, the measure’s intended to protect them from frivolous charges.

District Attorney Julia Slater gave Davenport notice on Dec. 9, 2017, only 18 days before the grand jury indicted her.

In his decision Thursday, Judge Land said he had no choice but to throw out the case against Davenport, as the law mandating 20 days’ notice was clear and not open to re-interpretation.

“Allowing this case to proceed under these circumstances would not only ignore the express terms of the statute but would also detract from the legislative purpose by reducing the time that the officer is legislatively given to consider her pre-presentment options,” Land wrote. “The court has no authority to do either.”

So the criminal case has been tossed out, and because the statute of limitations has expired, it cannot be revived, Shelnutt said.

That’s a crucial step toward clearing the way for Davenport’s civil rights lawsuit to proceed in federal court — where the judge coincidentally is Ben Land’s brother, U.S. District Court Judge Clay Land — but it is not the last step.

Slater still has 30 days to appeal Judge Ben Land’s decision to quash the indictment, and Davenport still has to exhaust all her administrative appeals through the city before the lawsuit can move forward.

In a text exchange Monday with the Ledger-Enquirer, Slater said she will not appeal:

“Although I disagree with the judge’s decision, I respect it,” she wrote. “At this time I do not plan to appeal.”

That leaves unfinished only Davenport’s appeals through the city government.

Countryman first suspended Davenport for five days without pay, after the confrontation with Dunlap. When she was arrested in 2013, the marshal suspended her indefinitely, pending the outcome of the criminal case.

Under city personnel regulations, Davenport first could appeal that suspension to the city human resources department and then to the city Personnel Review Board. Between the HR director and the review board, the city manager had the option of weighing in.

The same day Davenport was charged and suspended, city Human Resources Director Reather Hollowell gave Davenport notice that she had upheld the marshal’s decision, and that City Manager Isaiah Hugley would not intervene.

But Davenport still hasn’t had a hearing before the Personnel Review Board. That last step was postponed, pending the outcome of her criminal case, so she has not yet exhausted her administrative appeals.

An ongoing saga

Davenport’s issues with the city date back to 2006, two years after she began her law enforcement career with the Columbus Police Department.

As a police officer, she submitted discrimination complaints to the city and to the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission before filing a federal lawsuit in December 2006.

Davenport, who is black, claimed she was denied the same backup white officers got while working undercover, and alleged that when she complained about this, she was punished with an undesirable assignment. She also accused male colleagues of subjecting her to sexual comments.

Meanwhile she transferred from the police department to the marshal’s office.

A jury in September 2008 found Davenport suffered discrimination only because of her gender, and recommended she receive $5,000.

After Davenport filed suit alleging discrimination, so did a colleague: Then-police Cpl. Byron Hickey sued the city in federal court in 2007, claiming his superiors retaliated against him in 2005 when he spoke up on Davenport’s behalf.

Hickey alleged supervisors afterward gave him a negative performance review, put him on extended leave so he couldn’t earn extra income from off-duty jobs, and transferred him from the department’s Vice and Narcotics Division.

A jury in 2010 awarded Hickey $306,000.

In his 2015 decision allowing Davenport to put her federal lawsuit on hold pending the outcome of her criminal case, Judge Clay Land included a recap of events that spawned the dispute.

He wrote that after Davenport transferred from the police department to the marshal’s office, she complained that Countryman had neither promoted her nor provided her the same “perks” as male deputy marshals. Though Countryman in addressing his entire staff afterward promised to treat everyone fairly, Davenport maintained her mistreatment continued.

Then came the confrontation with Dunlap at the 2013 three-car accident, after which Countryman first suspended Davenport for five days without pay and gave her 12 months’ probation for neglecting to turn on her microphone to record what she did at the wreck, and for demonstrating conduct unbecoming an officer.

Davenport asked Countryman whether she could substitute vacation days for the five-day suspension, because she was a single mother of three who needed the pay, and because the marshal had let male deputies use vacation time for suspensions. Countryman refused.

When Davenport complained Countryman was discriminating against her because she was a black woman, “Countryman reacted with hostility,” Land wrote. The marshal told her she could appeal the suspension, but she had abandoned her oath and could face charges.

The day after Davenport appealed her suspension, Countryman contacted the Georgia Bureau of Investigation regarding her conduct at the accident scene. The marshal gave Davenport an administrative assignment until the GBI probe was over.

After the GBI charged her with violating her oath on Dec. 12, 2013, Davenport the following Dec. 30 filed a second grievance with the city, alleging Countryman was taking further retaliatory action against her, Land wrote.

On April 4, 2014, she filed a discrimination complaint with the EEOC, which after reviewing her allegations issued her a “right to sue” letter on Aug. 8, 2014.

Represented by Columbus attorney Gwyn Newsom, who also was Hickey’s attorney in his federal lawsuit, Davenport filed suit on Nov. 3, 2014.

This story was originally published December 31, 2018 at 4:53 PM.