JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Missouri State Highway Patrol Sergeant Randy Henry is crying foul over what he says is a conflict of interest by State Attorney General Chris Koster, in the review of recent disciplinary actions taken against Henry by the Patrol.

Henry says Koster's team is disqualified from participating in the disciplinary review and is calling for the attorney general's office to be removed from the review process.

It began with the drowning of 20-year-old Brandon Ellingson on May 31, 2014, while Ellingson was in the custody of Trooper Anthony Piercy on the Lake of the Ozarks. In recorded statements given after the drowning, Henry expressed concerns about Piercy’s decisions leading up to the drowning.

Later, in a Missouri House Committee review of the MSHP, Henry, who has nearly 30 years of experience in Missouri water patrol, had pointed to problems in the training process for road troopers who would sometimes serve as "supplemental troopers" on the water (Piercy being among that group).

On June 3 and 4, Henry gave his deposition (sworn, out-of-court testimony) in a lawsuit filed against the MSHP and several of its members by Craig and Sherry Ellingson, Brandon Ellingson’s parents. Henry says Koster and the Patrol refused to supply him with legal representation during that deposition. On June 9, 2015, Henry received formal allegations of alleged misconduct, and was told the allegations would be taken before a Procedural Hearing Board.

Henry faces potential disciplinary action including a demotion and relocation from Lake of the Ozarks to Truman Lake, depending on the outcome of the board’s review.

Henry’s attorney Chet Pleban, of Pleban & Petruska Law in St. Louis, says the conflict of interest exists because attorneys from Koster’s office are reviewing and potentially advising the Procedural Hearing Board on Henry’s disciplinary review, at the same time that they are defending multiple members of the Highway Patrol in the Ellingson lawsuit. Henry has been called as a witness in that lawsuit.

Pleban argues Koster’s office has a clear incentive to discredit Henry in the disciplinary review process, since doing so would likely benefit the Missouri State Highway Patrol in its defense against the Ellingson lawsuit. He also says Assistant Attorney General P. Benjamin Cox is representing MSHP Superintendent J. Bret Johnson in the disciplinary charges brought against Henry, while simultaneously advising the Procedural Hearing Board that is reviewing those charges.

In a motion filed by Pleban on July 2, 2015, he contended, “At the same time that Koster, through Cox is advising the superintendent regarding the issues in the Henry disciplinary matter, Koster through other attorneys in his office will be advising and representing the individual and official interests of Johnson in the Ellingson lawsuit… Discrediting Henry during the Patrol’s disciplinary process will benefit Johnson in his effort to defend himself both in his individual and official capacities in the Ellingson lawsuit. Complicit in that effort will be Koster and lawyers who are under a duty to protect the interests of their client, which is inherently incompatible with the duties of a fair and unbalanced decision maker.”

In a press release, Pleban said, “The disciplinary action pending against Henry is designed to silence and discredit Sgt. Henry in connection with his claim of a cover up… Randy doesn’t need a house to fall on him to figure out how this appeal is going to end. Koster represents everyone in this case except Sgt. Randy Henry.”

The attorney general’s office could not be immediately reached for comment.


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