Two Soddy Daisy police officers, who went to the District Attorney's Office over alleged wrong-doing in the department, have been fired.
Lt. Jake Elrod and Captain Eric Jenkins were terminated on Wednesday.
Attorney Janie Varnell, who is representing them, said, "Three months ago, two long-time Soddy Daisy police officers, Lt. Elrod and Capt. Jenkins, came forward with evidence that another Soddy Daisy Officer, Jeremy Wright, had lied in a previous internal affairs investigation.
"Legal experts explain that such allegations of untruthfulness must be disclosed in criminal proceedings. However, while both Lt. Elrod and Capt. Jenkins testified in Hamilton County Criminal Court that they were threatened with their jobs by Soddy Daisy officials if they came forward and told the truth, the two persisted and brought the evidence to the Hamilton County District Attorney’s office who promptly turned it over to defense attorneys.
"Hamilton County Judge Boyd Patterson, after a hearing, found both Lt. Elrod and Capt. Jenkins to be credible witnesses in their testimony in the case of State v. Justin Whaley and ordered a new trial for Whaley based upon their testimony of Wright’s untruthfulness.
"Yesterday, Soddy Daisy terminated Lt. Elrod and Capt. Jenkins in clear retaliation for them bringing forward the evidence about Wright.
“Shame on Soddy Daisy for terminating these two long-time officers, Lt. Elrod and Captain Jenkins. This is the most blatant act of retaliation I have seen. These officers brought information to our local District Attorney about the truthfulness of an arresting police officer. Even the DA said in open court that this evidence should have been given to the defense before trial.
"Soddy Daisy tried to hide it and now they are punishing the officers who morally and legally did the right thing. The message that this sends to our community is that the Soddy Daisy Police Department wants to hide and cover up all of the bad deeds of their officers.”
She said Tennessee law "allows public employees to freely communicate their concerns to their elected officials. To be terminated for bringing this truthful information to the DA is not only a violation of their freedom of speech but opens the city of Soddy Daisy to liability."
Logan Davis, another attorney at Davis & Hoss representing the two officers, said, “These are the types of police officers you want to root for, the ones who do what is right, even when their jobs are on the line. What you hope, however, is that their department will stand behind them.
"Unfortunately, in this case, Soddy Daisy didn't. We look forward to ensuring that justice is done for these two officers who have admirably served the city of Soddy-Daisy and its citizens for 17 years. We will ensure they have their day in court."