Unfortunately that's not a firing offense, as he was suspended. I agree, the guy's a dirtbag, but my beliefs aren't reality. If he's exonerated after an investigation, he's exonerated. You can't fire him. And Governors can't fire other people who refuse to fire people they don't like.
The trooper was not exonerated. Here's a list of the charges: Results of internal police investigation in 2006 [edit] Death threat On March 1, 2006, Wooten was notified of the results of an Alaska State Trooper internal investigation. The probe found that Wooten violated internal policy, but not the law, in making a death threat against Heath (the father of Sarah Palin and Molly McCann).[15] Wooten denied having made the threat, but the investigation decided that he had in fact done so.[15] The trooper investigation concluded that the death threat was not a crime because Wooten did not threaten the father directly; therefore, the investigator deemed the threat to be a violation of trooper policy rather than a violation of criminal law.[3] Although the death threat was listed as a violation of trooper policy in the Memorandum of Findings[15] issued on October 29, 2005, it was not mentioned at all in the suspension letter[32] sent to Wooten by Col. Grimes on March 1, 2006. [edit] Moose hunt The Alaska State Trooper internal investigation also found that Wooten had committed a hunting violation in shooting a moose without a permit: he had been out hunting with McCann in September 2003 and had shot the animal himself even though their permit was in McCann's name only.[15] According to subsequent news reports, McCann had obtained the permit but balked at killing the moose herself, so she handed the gun to her then-husband, who shot the animal.[33] [edit] Taser incident Wooten was also found to have violated department policy in using a Taser on his then 11-year old stepson in 2003; he told investigators that he did so "in a training capacity" after the child had asked to be tased in order to show his cousin, Sarah Palin's daughter Bristol, that he "wasn't a mama's boy".[34][15] In a statement to the police, the boy said "that he wanted to be tased to show that he's not a mommy's boy in front of Bristol. Following being tased he went upstairs to tell his mother that he was fine."[19] In a statement to the police, Molly McCann said "she was up stairs giving a bath to the kids ⦠Mike was going to show Payton what it feels like and she told Mike that he better not."[19] According to Molly's account, she remained upstairs during the incident. In a September 2008 newspaper interview Wooten said that he "deeply regretted" the Taser incident.[35] He said that he set the Taser to "test" mode, meaning that it was on low power. Wooten added that he attached clips to the child rather than firing darts from a gun, that he turned on the power for less than one second, and that afterwards his stepson "thought it was great and wanted to do it all over again". He stated that "everyone laughed about" the incident at the time.[35] He also said that he "would like to put this behind me and get on with my life", and wished Palin and her family good luck.[35] According to a spokesman for Taser International, "if the Taser is fired for just a second, it would feel like your funny bone was hit."[34] Although the Taser incident happened in 2003, it was not reported to police until on or after April 11, 2005, the day that Molly McCann filed for divorce. On June 6, 2005, Sgt. Ron Wall, a police investigator, asked Sarah Palin's daughter Bristol why they "waited so long and brought the incident up after two years." Bristol said "because of the divorce."[19] [edit] Alcohol-related allegations The investigation initially cleared Wooten on all of the alcohol-related charges,[15] but Grimes subsequently overturned that result and found that Wooten did "take [an] open beer with him when he drove away in his trooper vehicle" on one occasion in the summer of 2004, violating both the law and internal trooper policy.[36] Wooten was not on duty; he was wearing "civilian attire." And he "drove approximately one mile to his residence."[19] Because Wooten "was a member of the SERT [SWAT] team ⦠he [was allowed to] use his State vehicle for personal use."[37] The only witnesses to this event were close friends of Sarah Palin's father: "Adrian Lane was a student of Chuck Heath's in Idaho when he was a child and they have been close friends ever since."[15] This is apparently why the original Memo of Findings[15] treated this allegation as "Not Sustained." [edit] Other charges Wooten was cleared of numerous other allegations made by McCann and her family, including that he had taken illegal steroid and testosterone supplements, that he had physically assaulted McCann, and that he had illegally shot a wolf.[15] [edit] Suspension of Wooten in 2006 As a result of these findings, Grimes announced on March 1, 2006 that she would suspend Wooten for ten days. In announcing the suspension, Grimes referred to the Taser, moose and beer incidents, and also to seven other negative actions in Wooten's personnel file, such as failing to use turn signals. She concluded that "[t]he record clearly indicates a serious and concentrated pattern of unacceptable and at times, illegal activity occurring over a lengthy period, which establishes a course of conduct totally at odds with the ethics of our profession".[14][34][32] After a union protest, the suspension was reduced to five days, and Wooten was warned by Grimes that he would be fired if he committed any further misconduct.[34] Union president Rob Cox has denied that Wooten was a "rogue cop" and pointed to his service on an emergency reaction team.[34] Union executive John Cyr said that many of the negative items in Wooten's personnel file were minor,[34] and that the only complaints ever filed against him were those by Palin and her family.[33] Palin has said "there were a lot of concerns from not just my family, but from the public about this trooper's activities."[38] Palin also said "the Palin family was not the only group of people concerned about Trooper Wooten's behavior."[27] As of July 2008, Wooten was still employed as a state trooper.[34] For the period prior to April 11, 2005, when the DVPO was granted, Grimes' letter[32] lists three disciplinary actions: a Warning, a Reprimand, and an Instruction, for such things as "not using turn signals." On September 15, 2008, Palin stated "according to the Grimes report, Trooper Wooten had been disciplined a dozen times before he was the subject of a Domestic Violence Protective Order from Molly McCann."[27] Palin has stated "that the troopers' investigation into Wooten was negligently or deliberately slipshod. ⦠many witnesses to wrongful or possibly illegal behavior by Wooten were never interviewed ⦠investigators seemed more concerned about exonerating Wooten than protecting public safety or the Palin family."[25] According to the Memorandum of Findings, more than fifteen witnesses were interviewed.[15]
I know that he was suspended for a week. But what happened after he was suspended? Was he fired? Was he allowed back? Was he suspended indefinitely? There was a conclusion after the investigation and then appropriate action was taken based on that conclusion. Why is everyone neglecting that conclusion?
He WANTED to be tasered...? For what - the experience of it?? I guess some people might want to see what it was like, but those people need to find something better to do.... A suspension is a punishment - but it's not being fired. If he was guilty and served his punishment, that should be the end of it. The THREATENING killing people is a biggie though. If he did this, he should be up on charges and facing a trial.
After the suspension he was reinstated. He's still working as a trooper. He was never fired. See the above information. OldTrader
Thanks. I knew about this story but your post of details was helpful. Honestly I don't give a damn what these guys did (Palin included) so long as they don't come here and mess with my life. Just don't bring their moose dressing, bible thumping, book burning, teen pregnating, gun wedding and lipsticking life style here. She can be their governor, that's their vote. But no way she can be my president or vp.
I'm guessing that just like any other non-protected by Shakman Decree executive, Palin can fire Monegan without cause. I can only imagine the reaction by Obama mentor Rich Daley if one his supervisors ignored such a request. Thus it'll little matter if Palin says" I just didn't think he was doing the job" because EOD he serves completely at her perogative.
Funny watching the republicunts...they are certain Palin did no wrong, but the republicunts defend Palin and her husband and any other crony when they avoid attempts to be subpoenaed. The ET right wing idiots are supporting the lawyers hired by the republicunts to delay this investigation until after the election, even though they claim she is innocent? Why do these republicunts always defend who then know to be innocent from our legal process? Why are they so afraid of the legal system, that they want to hide the people from the truth?
Well, that may be true - but then why didn't she just do that? Wham-bam, he's fired. End of story. But not. (Amended - they say he did threaten him, but not directly, so did not charge him with a crime). Still - if she could just directly fire him because she can, why go through the Commis of Public Safety?
I luv it. LoZZZer on delusional Iceman type tilt. LoZZZer seeker of truth. LMAO. Here's a picture of Obama supporting Democratic Senate Judiciary Chairman Hollis French. Remember this is the impartial judge who will decide on troppergate. http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/group/AKHQBlog/2008/07 Hollis French, had "politicized" the probe by making a number of public comments in recent days, including telling ABC News that Palin had a "credibility problem" and that the investigation into the firing of public safety commissioner Walter Monegan was "likely to be damaging to the administration" and could be an "October surprise." http://www.newsweek.com/id/157439