Thursday morning the State Personnel Commission heard arguments from both Charles Jones and the North Carolina Highway Patrol Office on the case. Jones' attorney argued his client was only training his K-9 the way the highway patrol taught him to.
But the highway patrol maintains it was a clear violation of conduct.
Attorney John O'Hare tried to explain for members of the State Personnel Commission different ways the highway patrol is taught to train its K-9s. He maintains his client's actions while training Ricco were in accordance with procedure.
However, after seeing the training footage in a cell phone video, the highway patrol suspended and then fired Jones, arguing he violated rules of conduct.
"He tied the dog off, left it suspended, kicked it 5 times," NCHP Attorney Ashby Ray said. "That goes above and beyond anything that he'd been trained to do and makes it excessive."
But two months ago, an administrative law judge said Jones was wrongfully fired and said the officer should get his job back.
That was a recommendation and the panel that met Thursday will make the final decision after reviewing documents presented from both sides of the issue.
o decision is expected Thursday.
