BY JENNIFER CABRERA

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – A lawsuit filed by Sergeant Aaron Wagle against Gainesville Police Department Chief Lonnie Scott cleared its first hurdle today when Judge Donna Keim issued an order stating that the officer has “demonstrated a preliminary basis for relief.” The order gives Chief Scott 30 days to file a response stating why he believes the relief requested by the officer should not be granted. The officer’s lawyer, Bobi Frank, will then have 15 days to respond, if desired.

Wagle’s lawsuit asks Judge Keim to issue a Writ of Mandamus ordering Scott to hold a Compliance Review Hearing because Wagle alleges that his rights were intentionally violated during an Internal Affairs (IA) investigation. The Compliance Review Hearing will not review the facts of Wagle’s IA investigation but instead will examine the procedures followed by the investigators to determine whether there were intentional violations of the Officers’ Bill of Rights.

If the panel finds that there was a violation and that the violation was intentional, the investigator must immediately be removed from any further involvement with the investigation (a City of Gainesville attorney told Frank that the investigator was already removed from the investigation and that the City believed that made Wagle’s request moot, but Frank disagreed and proceeded to file the petition), and an investigation must be initiated against that investigator for purposes of agency disciplinary action. If the investigation is sustained, the allegations are forwarded to the Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission for review as an act of official misconduct or misuse of position.