Judge upholds demotions of two Metro officers

Cathy Scott

Friday, Oct. 24, 1997 | 11:02 a.m.

District Judge Jack Lehman has agreed with Metro Police that the demotions last year of two officers were warranted.

Lehman ruled that the Civil Service Board and the sheriff did not overstep their powers. The next step for Lt. Steve "Whitey" Franks and former Officer Ron Fox would be to appeal the decision to the Nevada Supreme Court.

Lehman's decision came Wednesday, after an appeal to District Court last month asking for a review of the Civil Service Board's decision.

The board, which can overturn or increase discipline of officers, upheld Metro's decision to demote the officers. The court, in turn, upheld both the board and Metro's actions. (Fox was fired earlier this year in an unrelated case.)

But whether attorney Tom Beatty, who represented the pair during a Civil Service Board hearing earlier this year, takes it to the higher court is up to Franks and Fox, he said.

"We have to discuss it with our clients and decide what to do," Beatty said Thursday. "We obviously have to consider if we should take it further. We raised serious issued in which we were correct. The District Court didn't agree with us.

"I'm inclined to go all the way. Personally, I believe that these issues should be reviewed by the Supreme Court."

Beatty has 30 days to file an appeal.

In Lehman's decision, he admitted not reading all of the testimony from the three-day hearing, a session described by Metro attorney Kathleen Paulson as the lengthiest ever in the history of the Civil Service Board.

The officers also were denied an appeal of their three-week suspensions.

Franks, a 23-year veteran who was promoted to captain last year, was demoted June 13 for forging another captain's signature on three evaluations for Fox. He was moved to Metro's forgery section.

Franks admitted that he reconstructed three evaluations for Fox, a nine-year veteran, so Fox could take them to his oral examination to show his background.

Fox's name was removed from the lieutenant's promotion list, where he was No. 2, once it was determined that the documents had been forged and falsified. He was later terminated following an unrelated internal investigation.

Beatty contends that Metro used hearsay to make its case to the board. Paulson told Lehman that Fox and Franks were given a fair hearing.