The state attorney general has closed its investigation into an alleged drunk-driving ticket fix by an Athens Police supervisor because no criminal action was found, the police chief said Thursday.

A supervisor and the arresting officer have been reprimanded for failing to follow procedures, he said.

Meanwhile, the man charged with driving drunk — William Jeffers, 43, of Killen — was convicted Thursday in Municipal Court of driving under the influence at 2:26 a.m. June 7 on U.S. 72 near Seven Mile Post Road.

Jeffers’ attorney, Dan Totten of Athens, immediately appealed the conviction. Jeffers will likely be tried by a 12-person jury on the charge next year, Totten said.

Athens Police Chief Wayne Harper said Attorney General Troy King telephoned him at the end of September to say the Attorney General’s Office would take no action in the alleged ticket-fixing matter following an investigation this summer. The News Courier had called Athens Mayor Dan Williams Thursday about the status of the investigation and was referred to Harper.

Harper said neither he nor the investigators believed any criminal action was involved.

“I never suspected there was any criminal action involved, it was just a procedural thing. The state court system has certain rules and procedures.”

Harper said he had already handled the matter administratively .

“The officers have been reprimanded — the supervisor and the arresting officer,” said Harper, who declined to name them.

“There were a lot of rumors and innuendoes and some unauthorized media leaks that took place that made it sound a lot worse than it was,” the chief said. “There was never anything illegal. No payoff. We never suspected that. There was nothing there, and I believe they (the investigators) knew that early in the investigation. There were errors with swearing the ticket in a certain amount of time and with the transmittal of the ticket where procedures were not followed.”

Harper said he has asked King to put in writing the fact that the investigation is closed and that no criminal action is warranted. He has not yet received that document, he said.



The allegation

Two agents from the Attorney General’s Office came to Athens twice this summer to investigate an allegation that Capt. Tracy Harrison tried to interfere with the transmittal of Jeffers’ DUI ticket to the state Department of Public Safety. Records show that arresting officer Jason Threet stopped Jeffers on U.S. 72 after he swerved in his vehicle. His blood-alcohol content was 0.17 percent — twice the legal limit of 0.08 percent, records show.

Published reports have stated that the day after Jeffers’ arrest, an unnamed supervisor allegedly pulled over a U.S. Postal Service truck on June 8 and retrieved from the letter carrier an envelope containing a document reporting the DUI arrest to the DPS. The envelope contained the driver’s license and a form requesting that the license be suspended.

A local Postal Service representative said the actions were not illegal, according to reports.

A copy of Jeffers’ ticket shows that the arresting officer did not swear the complaint before Magistrate June Whitt until July 16 — 38 days after it was written, which is not typical.

Neither the mayor nor the chief would name the supervisor in question but the mayor did tell The News Courier it was one of the two captains on the force. Other sources named Harrison.



Jeffers

In Municipal Court Thursday, Judge Don Mansell found Jeffers guilty of DUI.

Jeffers, Totten and the two Alabama assistant Attorneys General who are prosecuting the case — James Rutter and Stephanie Billingsley — stood before Mansell during the brief proceeding.

Jeffers had pleaded not guilty to the charge but also stipulated, through his attorney, that the evidence in the case — including the ticket and the blood-alcohol test — was factual.

Mansell quickly found Jeffers guilty based on the evidence.

Totten immediately appealed the case to Limestone County Circuit Court, where Jeffers has requested a jury trial. There are no provisions for jury trials in either Municipal or District Court. Totten said he appealed the case to Circuit Court in hopes of getting one for his client.

“There the prosecutors have to convince 12 people, not one,” he said.

Totten believes a trial would not occur until after the first of the year.

Totten declined to say what Jeffers’ defense in Circuit Court would entail.

“I really can’t go into that,” Totten said.