This is a guest opinion

As we move into a new year with friends and loved ones, one Huntsville family continues to live an ongoing nightmare, with an empty place at the family’s table. For Officer Ben Darby, this represents another day in prison, away from his loving wife and family, since his unjust conviction for murder in May 2021. Officer Darby’s case represents not just a miscarriage of justice in its own right, but a tangible example of why Alabama needs to change its laws, so that future police officers like him don’t get railroaded for their actions.

In 2018, Officer Darby and two of his colleagues responded to reports of a mentally disturbed individual, who had a history with local law enforcement. Officer Darby tried to de-escalate the situation by ordering the subject to drop his weapon when he discovered the imminent threat posed to himself and his fellow officers by this individual. The individual continued to fail to comply with seven lawful commands of dropping the weapon. Officer Darby felt he had no choice but to fire to protect himself and his two colleagues.

Yet three years after taking action to defend himself, his colleagues, and the community, Officer Darby found himself convicted of murder. At the trial, which due to the COVID pandemic, was shown remotely to another room for those there to witness the trial including Officer Darby’s family and the media. During the course of the trial and for no apparent reason, the judge turned off the video which kept Officers Darby’s trial from being public.

The prosecutor compared Officer Darby—a trained police officer sworn to uphold the law—to an ordinary civilian randomly invading a home to shoot someone. Officer Darby was trained by his agency to deal with situations such as this specific incident. An ordinary citizen is not. The judge also dismissed material and exculpatory statements, like those of a neighbor who stated the subject intended to lure police officers into his home and kill them, because of his hatred for law enforcement.

While Officer Darby’s trial contained numerous procedural errors such as the deactivating of the video feed as well as not allowing Officer Darby’s experience and role as a law enforcement officer in this situation, the underlying problem that led to his conviction stems from Alabama’s failure to adopt Graham v. Conner as the standard view of officer’s use of force. This Supreme Court ruling is related to civil trials and not criminal trials. However, it could be adopted by both investigators and prosecutors when investigating officers involved in use-of-force actions as the proper standard for evaluating the acceptable use of force. In that 1989 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court created a standard for the use of force that examines “whether the officers’ actions are ‘objectively reasonable’ in light of the facts and circumstances confronting them.” Put another way, the Court ruled that courts (in lawsuits) should examine whether an officer acted in a manner consistent with how other similarly trained police would respond, given the circumstances of a given incident. This should be allowed into criminal courts as well.

In this particular case, we already know that Officer Darby met the Graham v. Connor standard. An incident review board convened by the Huntsville Police Department found Officer Darby’s actions justified and within the law—even as that same board ordered Officer Darby’s colleagues to attend remedial training for their involvement in the incident. Yet, the prosecutors, with no use of force experience or training, felt that Officer Darby committed a premeditated crime and murdered this individual.

So why did an activist prosecutor, upon receiving these findings, convene a grand jury to indict Officer Darby of murder? And why did that same prosecutor, if so convinced of the officer’s guilt as a murderer, offer him a plea deal that came with no prison time attached if only Officer Darby would plead guilty to a crime he did not commit?

Hopefully, policymakers can find a way to put an end to this madness—not just for Officer Darby, but for any future officers who end up in a similar situation. The Alabama Legislature should work with law enforcement agency leadership as well as law enforcement organizations to pass legislation in its upcoming session imposing this standard in all state cases.

This action would provide the best way to start a new year for Officer Darby and his family. Just as important, it would bring peace of mind to thousands of our members, who work tirelessly every hour of every day to keep Alabama communities protected and safe.

Everette Johnson is the State President of the Alabama State Fraternal Order of Police which represents over 8,300 law enforcement officers across the state. He has served 27 years in law enforcement.