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WEST VALLEY CITY — A West Valley police lieutenant who was demoted following an investigation of the city's embattled Neighborhood Narcotics Unit and then reinstated in 2014 — only to have his reinstatement appealed by West Valley City — will keep his position.
The Utah Court of Appeals ruled Thursday to uphold the reinstatement of Lt. John Coyle and allow him to receive back pay for the time he was demoted, agreeing with the West Valley City Civil Service Commission that reversed the city's decision to demote Coyle two levels from lieutenant to patrol officer in 2013.
"The city's contentions that the commission abused its discretion are without merit," Judge Gregory Orme said in the ruling. "The commission made sufficient findings of fact and relied on the grounds for termination. … The commission acted within its discretion in determining that the severity of Coyle’s violations did not warrant demotion and that demotion was inconsistent with the discipline imposed on similarly situated employees."
The city had previously found that narcotics officers had violated departmental policies in a variety of ways while Coyle was in charge of the unit before the commission ruled against his demotion.
Those violations included misplacing or mishandling drugs and money, keeping items seized from cases, improperly using confidential informants, and using GPS tracking on vehicles without warrants.
A total of 126 criminal cases tied to that drug unit were dismissed by the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office and the U.S. Attorney's Office because of credibility concerns.
However, Coyle appealed his demotion. His attorney argued that too much blame for the department's problems fell to him after the chief and the deputy chief had both resigned. Meanwhile, other officers who were sanctioned were not demoted and only given brief suspensions.
The commission later determined that Coyle's misconduct was "technical" and that demotion would be disproportionate to his conduct. Judges upheld that decision on Thursday.
West Valley City lawyers argued the commission failed to consider a number of accusations against Coyle, and made "erroneous evidentiary rulings" by not considering evidence detrimental to Coyle, but the appeals court determined the city did not show how that evidence would have changed the commission's decision.
While Coyle had admitted that his unit did not follow the city's "property handling" policies, the court agreed with the commission's initial finding that "essentially no harm" resulted from the violation because "there was no evidence that this failure undermined morale, negatively impacted the effectiveness of the department, or damaged public confidence."
West Valley's Neighborhood Narcotics Unit came under scrutiny after two of its detectives, Shaun Cowley and Kevin Salmon, shot and killed 21-year-old Danielle Willard in a botched undercover investigation.
The unit disbanded a month later after a slew of problems were identified, including missing drugs and money, small amounts of cash and other items taken from the seized vehicles, and officers taking "trophies, trinkets or souvenirs" from drug-related crime scenes.
The city settled a wrongful death lawsuit with Willard's family for nearly $1.5 million in 2015. Cowley was fired and charged with criminal manslaughter in Willard's death, but a judge later dismissed the case against him.
Earlier this year, Cowley filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the city and its police department, claiming he was made a scapegoat to cover up larger problems. A hearing over a motion to dismiss that lawsuit is scheduled for Monday afternoon.
