Sheriff: Franklin Violated Office Code

DAYTON - Former Columbia County Sheriff 's Deputy Mark Franklin violated three aspects of his employer's policies and procedures, a misstep that would have triggered his suspension if he were still working in that capacity, Sheriff Walt Hessler said Tuesday.

Franklin resigned in early June pending an investigation by the Asotin County Sheriff's Office into allegations that he conducted himself less than professionally during an incident at and near the Midway convenience store and fueling station in Waitsburg in February.

Investigators, who interviewed nearly a dozen witnesses and other law enforcement officials from Walla Walla County, completed their probe last week and sent Hessler their 44-page report.

The report is a lengthy account of the investigators' interviews and includes incident reports, statements from witnesses, photographs and a long letter from Chief Columbia County Sheriff's Deputy Joseph Helm bringing the initial citizens' complaints to Hessler's attention.

In it, investigators do not draw independent conclusions about Franklin's alleged misconduct, but Hessler said his erstwhile political rival overstepped his bounds.

"It's pretty much cut and dry," the Sheriff said in an interview on Tuesday. "It violated our policies and procedures in three aspects."

Hessler said Franklin mistreated members of the public by using verbally abusive language; was dishonest by not properly identifying himself and by submitting misleading accounts of the incident; and took on an unsanctioned investigation of what he believed was a traffic violation while off duty outside his jurisdiction.

Franklin could not be reached for comment on Tuesday evening before press time. In past interviews, he has denied any wrongdoing.

The citizens' complaints, filed by members of the Nettles family on Taggert Road near the Midway station, stemmed from an incident on Feb. 11, when Franklin was fueling his vehicle late at night.

Brandie Nettles, the daughter of Waitsburg City Councilman Scott Nettles, drove through the station on a shortcut from Highway 12 to Taggert at what Franklin later reported as a reckless speed that endangered him and triggered his "investigation."

His interactions with several residents on Taggert, including Brandie Nettles, quickly deteriorated into a shouting match in which Franklin reportedly lost his cool and eventually led to him threatening to use his authority as a law enforcement officer to issue a citation.

Investigators found several discrepancies between his account of the incident and parts of the scene that were caught on tape by Midway's security cameras obtained by Scott Nettles as well as eye witness accounts.

"It would be different if the people who were interviewed had some sort of tie to one another," Hessler said. "But they don't and their stories were all the same."

Those witnesses accuse Franklin of behaving himself unprofessionally, though it's clear few of the residents remained calm either.

In his May 19 letter to Hessler, Helm, who had made an initial review of the Nettles' complaints, told the Sheriff he had "concerns about Deputy Franklin's conduct during the incident, the accuracy and validity of his report, his failure to identify himself immediately and the information he provided the Walla Walla deputies (who responded to his call for assistance)."

Hessler said a suspension would have been the minimal action he would have ordered against Franklin, who resigned citing a lack of a support from Hessler's administration.