With Little Rock police officer Charles Starks back at work by court order and claiming he's owed $28,178 in back pay and expenses, the city's lawyers are now fighting his attorneys' efforts to force the city to pay his $34,452 in legal expenses, the most recent court filings show.
The decision on whether the city must pay Starks' legal team is entirely up to the judge. The city's position is that the attorneys are owed nothing, but if they are, it's certainly not the amount they're claiming because the judge's findings show the city essentially did the right thing by punishing Starks.
Pulaski County Circuit Judge Tim Fox found that Starks had violated police procedure but overturned his firing, ruling that he should instead be suspended for a month with his pay reduced to rookie wages, or $43,743 a year. The judge also invited Starks' attorneys to submit an estimate of the legal costs for him to consider.
In the latest round of pleadings filed this week, the city's lawyers say there is no law requiring the city to pay Starks' legal expenses, but that if the judge rules that compensation is required, Starks' two-man legal team should not be paid at the $250-an-hour rate they've asked for because the judge's own findings show the city did the right thing by punishing Starks, even if the judge found that punishment excessive.
"[City lawyers] achieved their overall objective in the case by successfully showing that [Starks] violated General Order 303.II.E.2 and significantly disciplining him for it," the filing states. "Therefore, it is evident that the Court believed that [Starks] was guilty of some amount of wrongdoing in the case and held him accountable for it."
Starks' legal expenses have risen by $4,500 since the Jan. 2 order returning him to work, his attorneys report. First, they had to fight off an effort by the city to keep Starks unpaid and off the force until city lawyers could appeal the ruling reinstating him. This week, Starks notified the judge that he too is appealing the judge's ruling.
Last week, Starks had to take city leaders back to court to get his gun and badge back, with the judge ruling that Starks' gear was wrongly withheld once he had returned to the city payroll Jan. 16.
Fox told Mayor Frank Scott and Police Chief Keith Humphrey that withholding the badge and gun appeared to be an illegal attempt to punish Starks beyond the sanctions that the judge had imposed.
Finding the city in contempt of court, Fox told the mayor and the chief that he'd take Humphrey's badge and gun plus fine the city $10,000 a day unless Starks' gear was returned as soon as possible. He got it back by the end of the day.
Starks was fired last May for violating police procedure by stepping in front of a moving car when he killed a suspected car thief in February 2019.
Starks fatally shot Bradley Blackshire, 30, after the car he was driving clipped Starks and injured him during a February confrontation in west Little Rock. Blackshire's vehicle had been reported stolen, and Starks had been dispatched to get it back. Blackshire's family denies he knew the car was stolen, saying he had borrowed it from a friend. They're now suing Starks and the city in a federal wrongful-death suit.
Starks was cleared of criminal wrongdoing, and the resulting internal investigation found no fault with his use of force. Stark asserts he did nothing wrong, a position that was endorsed by the supervisors who reviewed his actions.
Last week, the city's lawyers told the judge they had reached an accord on how much Starks is owed for his 8½ months out of work, but the documents stating that amount have yet to be provided to the court.
Metro on 02/01/2020