Following yesterday’s hearing, Matthew Cummings was fired from his position as Newton’s Chief of Police today.
Reasonable outcome? Miscarriage of justice? Somewhere in between?
Chief Cummings terminated
by Chuck Tanowitz | Oct 11, 2012 | Newton | 20 comments
Findings of fact here
@Jerry -Thanks for posting the findings of fact so quickly. I wonder whether Cummings regrets his decision not to testify given finding 17 –that a negative inference was drawn from his failure to testify in this civil proceeding.
@lisap-please make note that Cummigs agreed to testify if the lawyer for the city had asked him. They never called him to the stand!
So now we’ll have a legitimate hiring process involving candidates from the market as well as internal? Or was this all a per-determined agenda played to perfection?
@Jerry Reilly: Do you really have to list the man’s home address?
Great stuff on the tab blog comment thread about this. The city refused to acknowledge that Mooney could be motivated to lie, when the evidence overwhelmingly suggested otherwise. The sad thing with small town corruption is that a Mayor can run such a farce of an investigation and there isn’t any real press/media that will do anything about it, look deeper into what is going on, or call out their “rock star” mayor. Federal/State corruption is newsworthy, but an unopposed small city Mayor’s can run free with everyone giving him the benefit of the doubt. From everyone I talked to that went to the hearing – it was a complete and utter farce. I really hope that a) someone from Coakley or Leone’s office is looking into this matter or b) someone challenges Warren and people start looking into how city hall operates under his command.
Can we please get the official hearing transcript from the stenographer, instead of this propaganda that City Hall put out?
We did the external search and came up with Jose Cordero and the complete and utter failure that resulted! I guess Hoss you were not in Newton during that time. It cost the city in epic ways in a number different aspects including financially. So thanks but no thanks looking for outside candidates
Nonantum — Yes, I remember. But any candidate wanting to lead of force of this size really couldn’t find a better community to do it. The only way to ensure top value for our tax dollars without selection prejudice is to do a legitimate hiring process with BoA confirmation.
@JakeFox -Yes, if you can get a copy of the officialhearing transcript, we’ll post it.
I am confused with (16) didn’t he refute all the allegations in the opening, closing, cross-examinations, and testimony of witnesses. I feel like the finding were written before the hearing and they just added in the last sentence (which is total BS).
Also, what is the city plan if he gets reinstated during the arbitration hearing in front of a neutral arbitrator who isn’t the Mayor’s assistant. Will Warren reinstate him or do we have to pay to buy him out?
NEyman, Opening and closing statements are not considered as evidence. They are persuasive argument based upon the evidence, but establish nothing in and of themselves so they do not constitute rebuttal. From the decision I glean that the hearing officer believed that the claims against the chief were supported by “substantial evidence” – not just a little bit of evidence, and not beyond a reasonable doubt evidence, but substantial evidence and the evidence offered by the chief was insufficient to rebut the city’s evidence. I would also like to just comment that the decision not to testify was likely a very wise one if there is an opportunity for a full fair arbitration hearing available. Hypothetically speaking, if you do not believe that your hearing is going to be fair and impartial and you do have an opportunity for another completely separate, fair and impartial hearing then the better part of wisdom would be not to testify because your testimony at the first hearing might be used to impeach you at the second hearing.
Can we expect to see a video replay of this from NewTV (similar to the Yeo hearing)? Was this bit on Newton history recorded?
Lisap — Two things seem interesting about the finding. (1) It doesn’t seem to have been written by a COO type; and (2) the last pat about the accused not speaking. Is either point meaningful?
Hoss, The hearing officer, whether lawyer or not, has to have a good understanding of the rules that are to be applied to the hearing, so I’m not troubled at all by point number one. (I’ve seen some very good legal analysis by non-lawyers.) To the second point, yes it is meaningful for purposes of this decision, but overall I don’t find it terribly damning. The hearing officer is permitted to draw a negative inference when a party declines to testify. In its most basic terms, it permits you to infer that the person didn’t testify because he had something to hide. However, as I said on another thread elsewhere, if one expects that the hearing is going to be a sham and there is an opportunity for another full hearing before an impartial decision maker, declining an opportunity to testify (and create a record of what you said) can be a tactical decision. It does not actually mean that you are hiding something but do not want to take the chance of creating a record of your testimony that may be used against you in a subsequent hearing.
Hoss: I know newtv was there, and I assume taped the entire proceedings….I am curious as to why no one has aired the footage, or why no reporters tape recorded any testimony that they can directly quote. I think once seeing the actual hearing, you will not agree with Rooney’s substantial evidence. And again, Cummings was on the list to testify, and the city never called him up to testify on his behalf-then they use this against him?
Jake Fox – No one could have expected anything other then what happened. The purpose for requesting this display was to give more leverage to the ultimate dispute for compensation due to termination of contract. The big leverage in my view is that Newton called a press alert and did a firing on City Hall steps thereby tarnishing the Chief’s opportunities for new employment. This display confirms that the firing was over a few words said at a point in time. He’s due something, but unfortunately it can’t be his job.
NewTV (I) did record the entire public hearing and will be airing it once I have completed fixing the audio and uploading it to our server for playback. It is a little over 4 hours long and will take time to complete. Once it is complete I will let you know when it will air on NewTV.
Thank you Jenn!! I knew you guys had stayed for the entire hearing 🙂
For anyone interested in watching the entire public hearing regarding Police Chief Cummings termination here it is.
Here is link to view the Cummings hearing on demand:
http://www.newtv.org/video/gov-programs/cummingshearing
The hearing will also air on NewTV’s Government Channel:
Monday, October 22, 2012 10:30 am
Wednesday, October 24, 2012 12:00pm
Friday, October 26, 2012 7:30pm
Thanks Jenn. I’ve embedded as part of a separate post.