A Dane County Circuit Court Judge blocked the Police and Fire Commission Tuesday from acting on a citizen complaint filed against Madison police officer Stephen Heimsness, which will protect Heimsness from being fired before he resigns in November.
According to the complaint, Amelia and Nathan Royko Maurer claimed Officer Heimsness unlawfully used deadly force the night of Nov. 9, 2012, when he fatally shot the Maurers late friend and roommate Paul Heenan, who triggered a burglary report when he drunkenly mistook his neighbor’s house for his own.
The Maurers’ called for further investigation into Heimsness’s “serious errors of judgement” they believed the Department’s Administrative Review overlooked throughout the course of an internal investigation, which exonerated Heimsness of any criminal wrong doing in January.
Judge John Albert’s decision prevents the PFC from pursuing the Maurers’ complaint any further, effectively allowing him to resign Nov. 26 as previously planned, rather than possibly being fired.
Amelia Maurer said in a press release she is “extremely disappointed” in Judge Albert’s decision.
