McComb Mayor Zach Patterson wants a circuit judge to excuse him from giving a deposition in the city’s appeal of the McComb Civil Service Commission’s reinstatement of acting Police Chief Greg Martin.
Charles Miller, Patterson’s attorney, filed a motion Monday in Pike County Circuit Court seeking a protective order that would prevent Patterson from having to give a deposition in the appeal.
Patterson is scheduled to give a deposition to John Ott, Martin’s attorney, Friday in City Hall.
According to the motion, Ott subpoenaed Patterson on Feb. 19.
Among the arguments supporting the protective order, Miller’s motion claims that the appeal filed by his wife, former acting City Attorney Angela Miller, is an administrative appeal and the rules of the court have no provisions for discovery or deposition in such cases.
Charles Miller also said another motion has been filed in circuit court to dismiss Martin from the appeal. Miller also claims that because Martin was reinstated by the board of selectmen on Feb. 10, the issues involving the acting chief are moot.
Angela Miller appealed the Civil Service Commission’s decision concerning Martin, during the day of Feb. 10, naming the commission and Martin as parties.
That night, selectmen voted 4-2 to reinstate Martin as acting police chief and Rachel Michel as city attorney.
The motion for the protective order is a change from a stance that Patterson took during his mayor’s chat on Dec. 23, in which he said he looked forward to testifying in a lawsuit he had filed against the city on Dec. 9.
“I don’t want just to be sitting here in the mayor’s chat,” Patterson said at the time. “I want to be under oath. I want to be sworn, and the statements that I make, I want to be on the record for the record.
“I think everyone else should want to do the same thing,” he said.
“I’m tired of sitting up here and listening to people pretend that things aren’t going on,” he said during the chat. “You go legal, and you start taking depositions. You get into discovery.”
