A court filing in Lee County alleges that the Marianna chief of police never graduated from high school, a requirement in Arkansas to be a member of law enforcement.
Chief Martin Wilson denies the allegation.
"I did graduate, and I'm proud of it," Wilson said in an interview with the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. "Those allegations are not true."
The accusation came in an amended complaint filed Friday morning in the case of Darry Chatwood and Charles Mitchell Jr. who are suing Russ Hinsley, Alco Management and the city of Marianna.
Chatwood and Mitchell are alleging police brutality and wrongdoing by former police officer Hinsley in 2017.
The complaint says Hinsley wrongfully arrested and detained the pair, as well as physically battered both, including choking one of the men while he was handcuffed.
Hinsley was moonlighting as a security guard for Alco Management at the time of the incident but was also a Marianna police officer. Wilson said Hinsley has since been fired.
The amended complaint filed Friday alleges that Wilson forged his high school diploma, and asserts negligence by the city for never investigating Wilson's educational background despite having "previously been placed on notice" about his lack of education. The complaint does not detail when or how the city had been placed on notice.
The complaint connects these accusations to the case against Hinsley by arguing that without this negligence, Wilson would not have been chief and would not have hired or retained Hinsley, and therefore, Hinsley would not have injured the plaintiffs.
Wilson has worked for the Marianna Police Department since 2006, according to records from the Arkansas Commission on Law Enforcement and Training, and has served as chief since then.
Arkansas law empowers the commission to set requirements for law enforcement in the state, and its regulations specify that to become a member of law enforcement, a person must either have graduated high school or received a General Educational Development certificate.
Counsel for the plaintiffs requested that the city prove that Wilson finished high school or received a GED. The diploma provided by the city states that he graduated from Central High School in Helena-West Helena in 1989.
Wilson said he gave the city a copy of his original high school diploma, but the complaint alleges that it is a forgery and points to an affidavit from the Helena-West Helena School District as evidence of that.
According to the affidavit written by interim Superintendent Linda English, primary records from around the time Wilson says he was in school were stored in a building damaged by water.
The district was unable to find any academic records of Wilson or "the persons who would have graduated in 1989," the affidavit states, so the district turned to "secondary sources" to determine whether Wilson graduated from Central High School.
The affidavit states that Wilson's name was not on the graduation list nor the list of student dropouts from 1989. His photo was not in the 1989 yearbook, nor was he listed as not pictured, the affidavit says.
The diploma he provided the city, according to the affidavit, shows different names for the principal, district superintendent and board secretary when compared with the yearbook. It is also different from another individual's verified diploma from 1989.
Wilson said he doesn't know for sure whether he ever sat for a yearbook photo his senior year, but he said he thinks he did.
He said he didn't know why he wouldn't be listed in the yearbook or why his diploma would be different from someone else's from his class.
A public records request by the Democrat-Gazette to the city of Marianna for documents related to Wilson's hiring turned up a transcript showing coursework completed at Central High School in Helena-West Helena between 1985 and 1989.
The transcript isn't clear as to whether the chief graduated, but it does list him as ranked 203 out of 216 students with a 1.38 grade point average. It also shows various courses completed or not completed during his four years at the school.
Austin Easley, attorney for Chatwood and Mitchell, said he was unaware of the transcript and had never seen it nor been provided it during his search for records.
Easley said he would like to look at the document and compare it with records from the district.
District officials were not available for comment about the transcript Friday afternoon. The Democrat-Gazette left a message with the superintendent, whom an official said was out until Monday. The newspaper, on the recommendation of the central office, tried to contact a high school counselor, but that person's voice mailbox was full.
Wilson said the rumor that he didn't graduate from high school has floated around for a while, but he has never been worried.
"I assure you, I did graduate," Wilson said. "My original diploma has been in my file for years."
Wilson said Hinsley's behavior is not condoned by the Marianna Police Department, but the chief believes the allegations made against him in the complaint are in pursuit of money.
Wilson said he is focused on other things, including retiring in three or four years.
"I don't have anything to hide," he said. "They can do all the digging they want."
Metro on 10/19/2019