Ketchikan Police Chief Resigns, State Drops Charges

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Created on Saturday, 31 August 2024 14:43

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By Anna Laffrey

Ketchikan Daily News

A criminal misdemeanor case against Ketchikan Police Chief Jeffrey Walls appears to be ending without a trial following an agreement that Walls, Walls’ defense attorney and a prosecuting attorney for the State of Alaska signed Tuesday, which requires Walls to leave his job with the City of Ketchikan, disqualify himself from working as a law enforcement officer in Alaska and to not seek employment as a law enforcement officer in any U.S. state or territory.

Alaska Assistant Attorney General Krystyn Tendy, who is the state’s prosecuting attorney in the case, filed the agreement in Ketchikan Superior Court on Wednesday along with a document that dismisses five misdemeanor charges against Walls, all of which stem from Walls’ altercation with Matthew Wildes, a then-36-year-old Washington state man, at the Salmon Falls Resort on Sept. 10, 2022.

A trial in Walls’ case had been scheduled to begin on Sept. 10, 2024. Walls’ trial was originally slated for March 13, 2023, and has been delayed for about 18 months due to ongoing procedural issues in the case.

But the case likely won’t go to trial following the state’s filing on Wednesday, which dismisses the charges against Walls “without prejudice,” meaning that the state could bring the charges back to court.

The agreement states that, as long as Walls leaves his job by Sept. 10, the state will dismiss the charges “with prejudice” so that they cannot be brought back to court.

Walls provided official notice for his retirement, effective Sept. 9, in a Monday email to City Manager Delilah Walsh which was included in the state’s filing on Wednesday. In the email, Walls states that he is retiring for “personal reasons” that he discussed with Walsh.

Until his retirement goes into effect, Walls continues to serve as active duty police chief for Ketchikan.

For most of the nearly two years since the incident at Salmon Falls, Walls has been charged with three misdemeanor charges of fourth-degree assault, which allege that Walls recklessly caused injury to Wildes, and that he used his hands and other body parts to impede Wildes’ breathing or blood circulation, as well as two misdemeanor charges of reckless endangerment that allege Walls recklessly created a substantial risk of serious injury to Wildes.

Since late 2022, state prosecutors have presented Walls’ criminal case to three separate grand juries, all of which have indicted Walls on the charge of third-degree felony assault. One of those grand juries in September 2023 indicted Walls on the third-degree assault charge, as well as a more serious second-degree felony assault charge.

Following three effective motions by the defense over the course of about 15 months to dismiss each of the felony assault indictments, Ketchikan Superior Court Judge Katherine Lybrand has dismissed each of those felony assault indictments against Walls.

In May, Lybrand ruled that the court would permanently dismiss “with prejudice” the third-degree felony assault indictment against Walls, but maintain the criminal case and the remaining misdemeanor charges against Walls.

A trial on the five remaining misdemeanor counts in Walls’ case had been set to begin on Sept. 10.

According to the agreement between the parties that the state filed on Wednesday, which likely will preclude the case from going to trial, Walls “maintains his complete innocence for any improper action” during the altercation at Salmon Falls.

“The defendant has been cleared by the City of Ketchikan, which chose to conduct a separate investigation during the pendency of the state criminal case,” states the agreement.

The city placed Walls on paid administrative leave following the first felony assault indictment that a grand jury in Ketchikan returned against Walls on Dec. 29, 2022. The city returned Walls to active duty on Aug. 22, 2023, following an extensive internal investigation that city personnel conducted into Walls’ interaction with Wildes at Salmon Falls and concluded in August 2023.

“While the defense and the city maintain that Walls is innocent, “the State maintains that it can prove every element of every charge beyond a reasonable doubt and disprove any potential justification defense beyond a reasonable doubt,” per the agreement.

“Nevertheless, the parties have engaged in discussions concerning a non-trial resolution,” states the agreement. “The defendant has decided to retire from his law enforcement career. The State has agreed that it will dismiss the charges.”

The agreement between the parties stipulates that “the defendant shall retire from the Ketchikan Police Department, with his resignation effective September 9, 2024.”

Walls “has given notice to (the Alaska Police Standards Council) that he will voluntarily disqualify himself from seeking or holding any law enforcement position in Alaska.”

ASPC will enter “the voluntary relinquishment and disqualification into the National Decertification Index,” per the agreement.

The parties agreed that, “upon confirmation that the defendant is no longer employed by the City of Ketchikan, which the defendant expects to provide on September 10, 2024, the State will file a subsequent notice Ö dismissing the case with prejudice.”

“If the defendant fails to provide such documentation by October 1, 2024, the State, in its sole discretion, exercised in good faith, may re-file charges,” states the agreement.

In an email to the Daily News on Wednesday, Walls’ defense attorney Jay A. Hochberg indicated that Walls will be retiring by Sept. 10, as he announced in his email to Walsh on Monday.

“I was very happy to find that the prosecution and the defense were able to resolve their differences of opinion so that we could all put this matter behind us,” Hochberg wrote in response to a Daily News inquiry about the agreement and the dismissal of charges. “Chief Walls may now go enjoy his well-deserved retirement.”

An information officer for the Alaska Department of Law’s Office of Special Prosecution, which is handling the state’s case against Walls, stated in an email to the Daily News on Wednesday evening that the state decided to enter into an agreement with Walls, and dismiss the charges against him after “careful consideration.”

“In any trial, a conviction is not guaranteed, and the State often resolves cases prior to trial in order to ensure certainty,” Information Officer Sam Curtis wrote.  ”In this case, ensuring the defendant will no longer be part of the Alaska’s law enforcement community was a primary goal.”

The Department of Law believes this resolution holds him accountable and also protects the community of Ketchikan and Alaska as a whole,” Curtis wrote. 

The prosecution and defense in the agreement signed Tuesday provide a summary of the facts of the altercation at Salmon Falls on Sept. 10, 2022, which resulted in the charges against Walls.

Walls was off-duty while seated at the bar at Salmon Falls with his wife on the evening of Sept. 10, seated “coincidentally, next to an off-duty Ketchikan Police Officer and his wife,” according to the agreement.

While Walls was sitting at the bar with the group, Matthew Wildes hit Walls’ chair.

Less than an hour later, Mr. Wildes had a second interaction with the group,” states the agreement. “This time he fell or pushed both the defendant and Mrs. Walls’ chairs, causing Mrs. Walls to make contact with the bar. Mr. Wildes walked off.”

The defendant then pursued Mr. Wildes and pushed him in the back, causing Mr. Wildes to fall,” states the agreement. “During the altercation, Mr. Wildes suffered an injury to his head, causing a laceration.

As the altercation continued, the defendant wrapped his arm around parts of Mr. Wildes’ body, including, at one point, his neck/head area,” states the agreement. “Witnesses separated the defendant from Mr. Wildes.

“At no time prior to witnesses breaking up the altercation did the defendant identify himself as a law enforcement officer, although he identified himself promptly afterward when he contacted the Alaska State Troopers,” states the agreement.