The McComb Civil Service Commission exceeded its authority by hearing the appeal of a fired city police officer, according to a bill of exceptions filed in Pike County Circuit Court appealing the officer's reinstatement.
The appeal asking the court to overturn the civil service's ruling reinstating former police officer William Perry was filed July 1 by McComb lawyer and former interim city attorney Angela Miller, who is representing the city in the case.
The appeal also accuses the civil service commission of acting outside the scope of its authority and "outside the laws of the state of Mississippi" by having its own attorney.
While she was city attorney, Miller issued an opinion that only the city attorney could represent the civil service commission. Since that ruling, Mayor Zach Patterson has called subsequent civil service decisions illegal and accused the commissioners of acting illegally.
Besides having the commission's decision overturned, the city's appeal asks the court to force the commission to comply with state laws concerning its operations.
Perry was fired on March 31 by Police Chief Greg Martin for conduct unbecoming an officer. He appealed the firing to the civil service board, which reinstated him after a June 3 hearing.
The board ordered Perry reinstated as of April 1, and ordered that he receive back pay going back to April 1.
Perry, who now lives in Florida, was attending the Florida Police Academy at the time of the hearing, and was allowed to testify at the hearing by conference call.
According to his deposition in the case, Perry said an unnamed citizen allegedly complained that he left an obscene message on the voice mail of his private cell phone.
Perry said in his deposition and testimony that he was being harassed by a company called Spectra Gram that claimed he owed the company money.
He said he left a message on his phone's voice mail thanking people who supported him through a recent traumatic incident, and ended the message with a threat of violence if anyone from Spectra Gram called him again.
He said the message was the the result of a reaction to the tranquilizer Xanax, which he received after emergency surgery at Southwest Mississippi Regional Medical Center to repair wounds to his face inflicted by his pit bulldog. Perry shot the dog soon after he was bitten.
Perry said he was prescribed painkillers and Xanax after the surgery, and the Xanax caused a change in his behavior.
During questioning by the commissioners, Perry said he was an Iraq War veteran and served as a military policeman for six years, including serving on a security detail for Maj. Gen. Tommy Franks.
He told the commissioners that he once had treatment for a drinking problem and has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress syndrome and was seeing a psychologist for the problem.
