A Madison County judge has denied a motion for a hearing to determine if a former Huntsville police officer charged with murder in a 2018 on-duty shooting should have received immunity.

In a one-page order, Circuit Judge Alan Mann denied a motion for a “Stand Your Ground” hearing for William Ben Darby, whose 2021 murder conviction was overturned last month. The Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals struck down the conviction based on jury instructions given by the trial judge, Madison County Circuit Judge Donna Pate.

Darby, who was released from prison April 13, is scheduled to go to trial again Dec. 11.

Darby shot and killed Jeff Parker on April 3, 2018 in Parker’s west Huntsville home. Parker had called police and said that he was about to take his own life. Two other officers were in Parker’s home attempting to de-escalate the situation when Darby responded to the scene.

Darby testified at trial, saying he shot Parker in defense of himself and the two other officers. Parker was holding to his head what proved to be a flare gun when Darby fired.

The appeals court, in overturning Darby’s conviction, ruled that Pate, the trial judge, should have instructed the jury to decide the case from the perspective of a reasonable police officer.

Earlier this month, Darby’s attorneys filed a motion for the immunity hearing, arguing, as in 2019, that he was acting in defense of himself and others when he fatally shot Parker.

“If the Trial Court applied the wrong self defense standard at trial, then the Trial Court presumably applied the wrong standard at the Immunity Hearing too,” Darby’s attorneys argued.