IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF TENNESSEE

AT KNOXVILLE

March 28, 2001 Session

CITY OF KNOXVILLE, ET AL. v. ROBERT J. TAYLOR, ET AL.

 Appeal from the Chancery Court for Knox County

No. 139330-3 Sharon Bell, Chancellor

FILED MAY 24, 2001

No. E2000-02329-COA-R3-CV

This is an appeal from a judgment entered in the Chancery Court for Knox County imposing certain

punishment as to two members of the Knoxville Police Force, Officer Robert J. Taylor and his

father, Sergeant Dick Taylor. The Administrative Hearing Officer at the initial hearing found no

misconduct on the part of the Taylors which would justify any penalty. The Taylors appeal

contending the Chancellor was in error and there was substantial and material evidence to support

the Hearing Officer’s determination. As to Sergeant Taylor we reverse the Chancellor’s

determination and as to Officer Taylor we affirm.

Tenn.R.App.P. 3 Appeal as of Right; Judgment of the Chancery Court Reversed in Part;

Affirmed in Part and Remand

HOUSTON M.GODDARD, P.J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which HERSCHEL P.FRANKS and

D. MICHAEL SWINEY, JJ., joined.

Douglas A. Trant, Knoxville, Tennessee, for the Appellants, Robert J. Taylor and Dick I. Taylor

Ronald E. Mills, Senior City Attorney, Knoxville, Tennessee, for the Appellee, City of Knoxville

OPINION

These cases before us, which were consolidated, had their genesis in the service of a domestic

violence arrest warrant which resulted in injury to the party arrested.

After an internal investigation by the Knoxville Police Department, both Sergeant Dick I.

Taylor and his son, Officer Robert J. Taylor, were terminated on February 2, 1998.
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Both Taylors appealed their dismissal and, after hearing proof for a number of days, the

Administrative Hearing Officer overturned their termination and found that they were "entitled to

be reinstated to full rank at the time of their dismissal with back pay."

The City then filed a petition for a writ of certiorari in the Chancery Court for Knox County

and the Chancellor, after a review of the transcript from the initial hearing--although not specifying

in what particulars--found that the Taylors "knowingly failed to meet the obligation imposed on

them by the Knoxville Police Department.”

She thereupon set aside the order entered by the Hearing Officer and then ordered the

following:

[T]he Court hereby sets aside the decision of the Hearing Officer to reinstate the

Appellees with back pay and no disciplinary action, and instead orders

reinstatement with full back pay to Officer Robert Taylor along with a

documented oral reprimand for his misconduct, dated as of the date of the original

disciplinary action, to be administered in accordance with the procedures set forth

by the Knoxville Police Department.

The Court further orders the reinstatement with back pay of Sgt. Dick

Taylor for all but thirty (30) days, and that Sgt. Taylor be suspended for thirty (30)

days without pay and reprimanded for his misconduct. While the Court orally

ruled that Sgt. Taylor be given credit for his time off work between termination

and reinstatement, and forfeiting thirty (30) days pay, upon agreement of the

parties Sgt. Taylor shall begin serving his suspension on August 19, 2000, and

said suspension shall not be stayed pending any appeal. The reprimand shall be

dated as of the date of the original disciplinary action. 

Both Defendants appeal raising two issues:

1. Whether the Chancery Court correctly applied the standard of review

on a Petition for Certiorari in reaching its conclusion that the Civil Service Merit

Board’s Hearing Officer abused her discretion in finding that the Petitioner failed

to establish that the Respondents should be subjected to termination or any other

disciplinary action by the Knoxville Police Department?

2. Whether substantial and material evidence supports the decision of the

Civil Service Merit Board’s Hearing Officer in ordering that the Respondents be

reinstated to full rank together with back pay without any disciplinary action?

The Administrative Hearing Officer accurately detailed the facts necessary for disposition

of this appeal:
1

It is unclear whethe r this should be “Cosby” or “Crosby” beca use we find it referen ced both ways in

the record.

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Mr. Phil E. Keith acting in his capacity as Chief of Police for the City of

Knoxville terminated the employment of Sergeant Dick I. Taylor and his son,

Robert J. Taylor as Knoxville police officers on February 2, 1998 for various

departmental code of conduct violations. The specific code of conduct violations

are cited in detail in the Taylors’ Statements of Disciplinary Action, but involve

allegations of untruthfulness and neglect of duty which the City maintains

occurred in connection with the arrest of Jack Longmire on December 14, 1997

and subsequent Internal Affairs investigation. Upon joint motion, the cases of

Dick and Robert Taylor were consolidated and their terminations appealed for

hearing in accordance with Articles 27 and 28 of the Rules and Regulations of the

Civil Service Merit Board. Based on the arguments of the parties’ attorneys,

exhibits and testimony presented at trial, the administrative hearing officer finds

that the City has failed to establish by a preponderance of the evidence that either

Dick or Robert Taylor is guilty of misconduct which would justify their

termination of employment and that they should be reinstated to full rank with

back pay.

The City of Knoxville is divided into East, Central and West geographic sectors

for police coverage and assignment. On all relevant dates, Robert Taylor and

Toby Wells were patrol officers assigned to the West sector. Officers in the West

sector were supervised by and reported directly to various sergeants including,

Sergeants Tom Fox and Roger White who in turn reported to Lieutenants Sasscer

and Roehl who reported to Captain Dan Davis. Sergeant Dick Taylor was a

supervisor for the Central sector and his chain of command flowed to Lieutenants

Woolridge, Goin and Catlett who reported to Captain Ed Cummings. All sector

captains reported directly to Deputy Chief Coker who in turn reported to the Chief

of Police, Phil Keith, as did Sergeant Gordon Catlett, Sr. who was in charge of

Internal Affairs.

Shortly before noon on December 14, 1997 Officers Robert Taylor and Toby

Wells proceeded to Cosby1 Avenue located within the West sector to serve a

domestic violence warrant on a Mr. Jack Longmire which had been taken out by

his wife, Kelli Longmire. When confronted in the parking lot by these officers

Longmire refused arrest struggling with both officers. In the course of the

struggle, Longmire grabbed at the gun of Officer Taylor causing Officer Taylor

to hit his emergency call button for assistance. After a vigorous physical struggle

in which capstun was used to subdue Mr. Longmire, these officers ultimately

succeeded in placing Mr. Longmire in handcuffs behind his back and seating him

on the parking lot in the immediate vicinity of Kelli Longmire’s and Officer
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Taylor’s vehicles which were parked side by side. Subsequent thereto, Officer

John Szczepanowski arrived on the scene at which time officer Taylor and Wells

left Longmire in Officer Szczepanowski’s custody and proceeded to Officer

Wells[’] police car which was parked a distance of some 40 to 60 feet away up the

sloped parking lot. Officers Taylor and Wells went to the car for the express

purpose of washing capstun overspray from Officer Taylor’s eyes and hands

which he had received in his struggle with Longmire and from which he was

suffering the physically discomforting side effects typically associated with the

same; namely, blurred, teary burning eyes and skin. While at Officer Wells[’] car,

both Officers Taylor and Wells heard a commotion in the vicinity of the prisoner

and upon returning found Longmire lying face down with blood flowing from the

right side of his head.

There is no dispute that Sergeant Taylor was the first supervisory officer on the

site in response to Officer Taylor’s emergency call, but within a matter of minutes

of his arrival Sergeant Roger White also arrived on the scene. Although assigned

to the Central sector. Sergeant Taylor responded to the emergency call because

he was monitoring the police radio as a favor for Sergeant White who was the

West sector supervisor on duty at the time of the arrest, but due to a conflicting

church commitment had arranged for Sergeant Taylor to cover his calls during his

absence. The timing sequence as to officers responding to the scene is evidenced

by the 911 emergency call transcript for the afternoon of December 14. On this

tape the various officers are identified by car number which represents a specific

beat within the officer’s assigned sector. At the time of Longmire’s arrest, Officer

Robert Taylor was assigned car #73; Officer Toby Wells car #81; Sergeant Roger

White to car #80; Officer Szczepanowski car #71; and, Sergeant Dick Taylor car

#40. From the transcript, Car 73 (R. Taylor) and Car 81 (T. Wells) are in route

to Cosby at approximately 11:55. At 12:06 hours 40 seconds Car 73 (R. Taylor)

is apologizing for having hit his emergency button to which dispatch responds at

12:07 hours 50 second that no apology is necessary and that the police wagon is

in route to the scene. In the brief interim between these two calls, Sergeant White

(Car 80) at 12:07 hours 30 seconds announces that he is back on the radio. At

12:08 hours 20 seconds Car 73 (R. Taylor) asks for a supervisor to which dispatch

makes reference to Car 80 (Sergeant White) and in response Car 73 (R. Taylor)

notes he believes Car 80 is out of service and references Car 40 (Sergeant Taylor).

Sergeant White testified that from his location at church when he got back on the

radio it would have taken him ten to fifteen minutes to arrive at Cosby which

would have placed him at the scene at approximately 12:22. The only other

officer responding to the emergency call at the scene was officer James Hellinger

who from the 911 emergency transcript is apparently on the scene by 12:14 hours

giving directions to the police wagon.
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Sergeant Taylor upon arriving at the scene discovered Longmire’s bloody face

and was briefly advised by Officer Taylor that Longmire had resisted arrest

struggling with the officers. Sergeant Taylor immediately proceeded to render

medical aid to Longmire by cleaning and treating his head wound at the rear of the

police wagon to which Longmire had been removed. In doing so, Sergeant Taylor

instructed an off-duty officer, Ryan Flores, who apparently lived at the same

apartment complex and who had appeared on the scene to wash Longmire’s blood

from the asphalt. Sergeant Taylor briefed Sergeant White upon his arrival on the

scene and both Sergeants questioned Kelli Longmire who had been present and

witnessed portions if not all of the arrest. Upon expressing concerns about the

beating her husband had received she was specifically advised by both Sergeants

about procedures for filing an abuse complaint with Internal Affairs as was her

husband, Jack Longmire, when he was interviewed at the hospital by both

Sergeants.

Prior to leaving the scene, Officer Robert Taylor confiscated various items from

the Longmire’s apartment, including a camera. telephone and guns for which he

ultimately filled out a confiscation report. At the scene he filled out an arrest

report and later that afternoon completed a resisting arrest warrant for Longmire

after being treated at the hospital for a sprained wrist he had injured in his struggle

with Longmire. The next day on December 15 Robert Taylor filled out a hand

written Use of Force Report which he turned in late afternoon at the end of his

shift to Sergeant White. On December 16, 1997 Robert Taylor prepared a

typewritten Use of Force Report upon the instruction of Captain Dan Davis after

being advised that his handwritten report was difficult to read. When the second

type-written report was rejected due to spacing concerns, Officer Taylor prepared

yet a third Use of Force Report by computer also on December 16. In all three

Use of Force report Officer Taylor consistently notes that he can’t advise about

Longmire’s head injury because when he and Officer Wells left Longmire in

Szczepanowski’s custody Longmire was not bleeding.

Upon review of Officer Taylor’s Use of Force Report, Chief Keith instructed

Sergeant Catlett of Internal Affairs to investigate the matter. On December 16th

,

Sergeant Rick Lyon of Internal Affairs contacted Jack Longmire by telephone

who declined to give a statement whereupon the investigation was closed.

Captain Dan Davis upon his review of Officer Taylor’s Use of Force Report felt

that there may be a problem with Officer Szczepanowski and on December 16

instructed Lieutenant Sasscer to investigate the report. Lieutenant Sasscer came

in on the afternoon of December 17, 1997 to talk to Officer Szczepanowski, but

at that point Szczepanowski was on medical leave due to injuries he sustained in

connection with his arrest of teenager Michael Birt earlier than same day wherein

he had broken the teen’s leg Lieutenant Sasscer made no effort to follow through

with any investigation until Officer Szczepanowski returned to work in early
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January which by that time Lieutenant Sasscer understood Internal Affairs was

investigating the matter.

Sergeant White upon his review of Officer Taylor’s Use of Force Report also felt

there might be a problem with Officer Szczepanowski and upon forwarding the

Use of Force report to Internal Affairs attached to the report a handwritten note

indicating that because of the statements in the Use of Force report he had left

instructions for Officer Szczepanowski to complete a statement and turn it in

ASAP. In concluding his note, Sergeant White noted that he had been filling in

for a vacationing Sergeant Fox and that he himself would now be off until

December 19. Internal Affairs did not re-open its investigation until after

Sergeant Dick Taylor on January 8, 1998 expressed concerns regarding Officer

John Szczepanowski to his supervisor, Lieutenant Gordon Catlett, Jr. who in turn

reported the matter to his father, Sergeant Gordon Catlett, Sr. as head of Internal

Affairs.

There is no dispute whatsoever that the original Internal Affairs inquiry (Case

#97-2142) was initiated in response to Officer Robert Taylor’s Use of Force

Report and was subsequently reopened (Case #98-2147) in response to Sergeant

Dick Taylor’s complaints about Szczepanowski. However, after a series of

interviews by Internal Affairs commencing on or about January 12, 1998 of the

officers responding to the Longmire arrest scene, Sergeant Dick Taylor and

Officer Robert Taylor were terminated by Chief Keith at the recommendation of

Captain Dan Davis and Deputy Chief Robert Coker with the support of Sergeant

Gordon Catlett based on the Internal Affairs investigative file. 

The standard of review for the Chancery Court and this Court is governed by the Uniform

Administrative Procedures Act which, under T.C.A. 4-5-322(h), provides the following:

 (h) The court may affirm the decision of the agency or remand the case for

further proceedings. The court may reverse or modify the decision if the rights

of the petitioner have been prejudiced because the administrative findings,

inferences, conclusions or decisions are:

 (1) In violation of constitutional or statutory provisions;

 (2) In excess of the statutory authority of the agency;

 (3) Made upon unlawful procedure;

 (4) Arbitrary or capricious or characterized by abuse of discretion or clearly

unwarranted exercise of discretion; or

 (5) Unsupported by evidence which is both substantial and material in the

light of the entire record.
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In determining the substantiality of evidence, the court shall take into account

whatever in the record fairly detracts from its weight, but the court shall not

substitute its judgment for that of the agency as to the weight of the evidence on

questions of fact.

Although the Trial Judge did not articulate on what ground she found the judgment of the

Administrative Hearing Officer was deficient, we conclude from a review of the record that it was

in part the false statement Robert J. Taylor made under oath in a resisting arrest warrant for the

suspect which stated the following:

[O]n 12/14/97 at 1204 pm, the Defendant was in the parking lot of 4201 Crosby

Rd. when officers approached him and advised him he had a warrant for his arrest.

The Defendant stated the [sic] he was not going to jail and he began to fight

officers vigorously. The Defendant began slinging his abody[sic] about and

grabbed Officer Taylor[’s] handgun while it was still in the holster. The

Defendant was sprayed with Capstun to subdue his aggression but it failed. The

Def. slung officers onto a parked vehicle and the officers and Def. fell onto the

pavement causing injury to Def’s face & head and Officer Taylor’s right hand.

(Emphasis added.)

The Hearing Officer obviously accepted Officer Taylor’s explanation that his misstatement

was inadvertent and caused by the stress of the situation, including having been sprayed with a stun

gun. It is interesting to note in this connection that in a Use of Force Report made almost 30 hours

after the incident, Officer Taylor again misstated the fact that he injured his right arm when he and

Officer Wells were grappling with the suspect attempting to get him handcuffed.

While we concede that the misstatement on the resisting arrest warrant was perhaps not his

final report on the incident and that the encounter was stressful to Officer Taylor, we cannot concede

that either separately or combined would be sufficient for him to admit to causing injury to a

prisoner in custody when in fact the injury occurred out of his presence, and most probably at the

hands of another officer.

We accordingly conclude in light of these false statements that his defense is unsupported

by substantial evidence and the Chancellor acted properly in imposing the penalty she did.

In reaching the foregoing determination we have not overlooked the proof in the record that

Officer Taylor and the officer who most probably caused the injury to the suspect were not friends

and that there was no reason for Officer Taylor to have made the statement to protect this officer.

However that may be, the statement emphasized above was false and Officer Taylor’s explanation

is, in our view, incredible and does not meet the test of substantial evidence.

We also note, in addition to the foregoing, the record discloses another misstatement by

Officer Taylor where, in an internal affairs interview on January 12, 1998, he stated the following:
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Lyon: Okay, backing up just a minute, Robert, I may have asked you but

did, did you see Szczepanowski kick Longmire in the crotch?

Taylor: No, sir, I didn’t see that. When he

Lyon: Okay.

Taylor: When he initially got there, when he pulled up and he started to

exit his vehicle and he was getting out and I started walking up the

hill toward the back of Toby Wells’ car. Now Toby was at the

front end of my car still down there but, but I went up the hill

toward the back of the car and I never saw him strike Longmire or

anything. I never saw him at, strike the guy at all.

However, on January 15, in another interview, he first repeated his denial as to the kicking,

and then recanted:

Catlett: And you never saw John, Officer Szczepanowski, or if I’m

pronouncing his name right, kick this prisoner?

Taylor: I never saw him beat this man or kick him or anything.

. . . .

Catlett: Robert, is there, is there anything else, I know you’ve had an

opportunity to think about it since January the 12th, this being

January the 15th, but have you thought of anything else that

occurred down there or you might’ve seen and that you forgot to

tell us about the incident?

Taylor: Yes, sir. I have.

Catlett: Okay, and what is that, sir?

Taylor: And, and I, and I’ve kinda been searching myself but initially

when, when, when John had pulled up there at the scene I was

standing back there at the back of the car there. I, I, I, I did, I did

observe the same thing that Officer Wells did.

Catlett: And what’s that?

Taylor: The, the kick. The kick to the groin area. And at that point I, I

observed it. When, when I, when I turned around, when he got out
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of the car, walked up there, and when I turned around I happened

to, to look back, back across there and it, it appeared to be what I,

what I appeared to be a, a kick and, and, and I went up there and

to, to the back of the car there and, and we came up to, that’s when

Toby came up there and Toby had mentioned to me that, that he

apparently had seen the same thing and that’s when were [sic]

heard this ruckus going on. We went down there. We noticed that

the guy had, had these injuries there, but I had, as far as, as far as

act, actually it, now that I get to looking at things, that, that’s,

that’s that’s what I, that’s what it had to be. (Emphasis added.)

With regard to Sergeant Taylor, it appears the prime complaint against him was having blood

from the victim washed away rather than preserved. The overwhelming proof is that there was no

question the blood was that of Mr. Longmire and that there was no compelling reason that it be

preserved. In this connection we concur in the finding of the Hearing Officer on this point wherein

she said the following:

The City speculates that Sergeant Taylor instructed Officer Flores to wash down

blood to cover for his son, believing his son might have inflicted Longmire’s head

wound. No proof was presented which would support the City’s position except

once again for the testimony of Officer Wells who says Robert lied to his dad.

Having previously addressed Officer Wells problematic testimony which the

hearing officer finds unreliable, one is left only with Sergeant Taylor’s plausible

testimony on this point. Sergeant Taylor testified that he never believed his son

had inflicted Longmire’s head wounds, but that he was simply trying to diffuse

a volatile situation. Other residents in the apartment were starting to come out

into the parking lot following the struggle. The wet blood on the pavement

constituted a potential hazard. The sight of his blood was contributing to

Longmire’s agitation and upsetting his wife who according to Sergeant Taylor has

asked him to wash down the blood. Therefore, Sergeant White asked Officer

Flores to wash it down believing it had no evidentiary value since it was

undisputed that it was Longmire’s blood and his wounds would be documented

upon his treatment at the hospital. Further, Sergeant Taylor readily acknowledged

that he instructed Flores not to discuss the matter. His instructions were not,

however, directed as any part of a cover up or conspiracy, but were given to

caution officer Flores from informally talking with the bystanders who were

gathering at the scene.

We accordingly reverse the judgment of the Trial Court as to the penalty meted out to

Sergeant Taylor and affirm the judgment of the Administrative Hearing Officer.

Before concluding, we do recognize that sometime after the incident Officer Taylor, as well

as his father, were instrumental in seeing the investigation and ultimate punishment went forward
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as to the officer who in fact had injured Mr. Longmire. While we commend both for this, we do not

believe this fact should alter our determination as to the misstatements made by Officer Taylor.

For the foregoing reasons the judgment of the Trial Court is reversed in part and affirmed in

part and the cause remanded for such further proceedings, if any, as may be necessary. Costs of

appeal are adjudged one-half against Officer Taylor and one-half against the City of Knoxville.

_________________________________________

HOUSTON M. GODDARD, PRESIDING JUDGE