Former MPD officer appeals termination to merit board

Former Maricopa Police Officer Martice Berry will appeal an August decision to terminate him from the force on Monday. The hearing will take place in front of the city’s merit board in a court-like proceeding. Upon completing the hearing, the board will hand over a recommendation to the city manager.

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“The problem with the board is that it is only advisory,” said Martin Bihn, Berry’s attorney. “It is a joke the city wants to conduct hearings like this and not give the group the power to make a decision.” The merit board is made up of three volunteers from the community.

Bihn has been working with the city for the past several months to schedule the hearing, in addition to lobbying for a change to the city code that would allow him to subpoena witnesses for the hearing. However, the city declined giving Bihn this power.

“It is ridiculous,” Bihn said. “A man has a right to confront his accusers.”

Berry was terminated for “conduct unbecoming an officer” after he was accused of sending obscene pictures of himself to women, kissing a 16-year-old and using a law-enforcement incident to pursue a personal relationship.

However, Bihn alleges that the investigating officer failed to tape several conversations with key witnesses and didn’t follow other investigative protocols. One complaint Bihn hopes to shoot a hole in revolves around a women to whom Berry allegedly showed explicit images.

The investigation stated that Berry and the woman originally met at a Halloween party in 2008, which was attended by several other police officers and Maricopa Fire personnel. After meeting, the female alleges that Berry harassed her at the gym and sent her explicit images of himself to her cell phone.

According to the investigation, the woman alleges that at one point she went to Berry’s home to tell him to stop harassing her, but the confrontation led to a sexual encounter between the two. Although Berry told investigators that he never had a sexual relationship with the woman, Berry’s attorney said the two were involved in a swinger-type relationship.

Bihn said Berry and the woman had multiple sexual encounters, but she did not come forward until her husband (a Department of Public Safety officer who confronted Berry prior to the investigation) got angry and forced her to do so.

The investigation also detailed Berry responding to a domestic violence call and finding the reporting party “hot.” Berry allegedly later called a friend of the reporting party asking if she thought her friend would go out with him. Also, the investigation details Berry making sexual comments and kissing a minor.

Many of the complaints detailed in the investigation occurred at Maricopa’s Anytime Fitness, which has 24-hour taped video surveillance. However, the tapes from these alleged incidents were never produced. No charges were filed against Berry stemming from the charges.

“A lot of information is going to come out of this hearing,” Bihn said. “This was more than Martice supposedly harassing a couple of women; it was a swinging group with house parties that connected every weekend.”

The merit board hearing will be held at 8:30 a.m. at the University of Arizona Agricultural Center, at 37860 W. Smith Enke Road.
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