Deposition: Non-union police files not subject to MOU

Wednesday’s deposition — an interview between an attorney and witness taken under oath before a trial — stems from a lawsuit brought against the city by Calvin Christian III. Christian is suing the city for allegedly improperly destroying records that were the subject of his Freedom of Information Act request.

On April 11, Christian requested the internal affairs files for Buscher that contained details of a 2008 drunken gunfire incident in Missouri that resulted in his arrest. Christian also submitted a request for other internal affairs files.

“We were told they were destroyed,” Christian said. ‘It gives you a lot of questions.”

***(In the interest of space, this story has been edited from the original .)

After leaving Myers office Wednesday, Christian said he is still scratching his head about what actually happened.

“It kind of makes you wonder who within the top brass had a part in it,” he said.

Also Thursday, Christian provided an email sent to Stone by Wittendorf in response to a question from Ward 7 Ald. Joe McMenamin. McMenamin sent an email to Wittendorf asking if a collective bargaining agreement could be modified without approval of the city council.

On May 1, Wittendorf emailed Stone saying, “Do you happen to know the answer to this? I thought I’d ask in case you did before I go scouring the books … which I’m doing now anyhow. LOL.”

Christian said everything he learned from Wednesday’s deposition has given him confidence in his case against the city. “We were glad we were able to get a few more questions answered, but this raises a few more questions,” he said.

Read the article at sj-r.com…

CLARIFICATION

An email from Ward 7 Ald. Joe McMenamin regarding a union contract change was sent to corporation counsel Mark Cullen and then forwarded to assistant corporation counsel Geannette Wittendorf. A story Friday was unclear as to who received the email first.