What a dufus.

Sgt. Letson is a good officer. Please note his commendations before you pass judgement!

There was obviously a problem with some sort of violence in this household otherwise his wife would not have filed charges. Any man that hits a woman is scum. He doesn't deserve to wear the badge commendations or not. Not too long ago, DPD had an investigator that stole money and fled to Vegas. If memory serves, he was well commendated too. That still don't make it right.

It takes a lifetime to build trust, it takes only a brief moment to destroy it.

he surrendered his police car during the suspension. but he lives in Lawrence County?

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I **THOUGHT** that in for Decatur Cops to drive the cars home, they were supposed to live in the city per Department Policy?

The scumbag probably threatened to kill her if she didn't drop the charges.

There will be another one..........he abuses her. Say what you will about how great an officer he is. I know he is a good officer. He is great at killing dogs. Anyways, time will tell...........

She realized he wouldn't have that income if she pressed charges.

How many women that are abused, drop charges, stay, and continue w/ the abuse. Sgt. Letson should be FIRED!!!!! He did it and I bet if you ask him, he will deny it. That's called dishonest! So, how is he a good officer! He's the type to plant something illegal on a person and/or lie to support a bogus charge. That's EXACTLY what DPD needs, more lying dishonest officer!!!!

Another "above the law" stormtrooper... how about this - there's no denial that he in fact hit her... she just dropped the charges. Yeah... I want this guy "protecting and serving" me... if he'll do this to his own wife think about what he'll do to YOU given an opportunity. Great job DPD...

What did you people expect to happen? Did you really think a police officer who broke the law would be punished in the exact same manner as a civilian? Fat chance.This wife-beating piece of trash will now be responding to domestic disturbance calls, how well do you think he'll handle those situations? I love how some people insist on defending these pigs- who knows, maybe she was asking for it right?

Has anyone ever considered that maybe his wife was upset because he was leaving her because he was having an affair and that was the only way that she felt she could hurt him was to accuse him of this act? Also, this women works in the councelors office at a high school. Is anyone questioning the example this is setting for the young adults she is working with? Don't get me wrong, I am not saying it is right to put hands on each other during an disagreement/argument. But she isnt the angel that everyone is making her out to be either.From my understanding she was arrested before this incident for assaulting the lady he was having an affair with.

@ Michelle....and she(the wife) should have beat "the other" woman's a$$. And divorced that low life of a husband she has. The wife's only bad choice was dropping charges. HE HIT HER! and he needs to be sitting in jail w/ the rest of the criminals. How big of a man does it take to strike a woman? Guess that's why he works for DPD!!!! He is low class and so is the cheap woman that would lay up w/ a married man. Wonder if the "other" woman has ever heard the ole saying, "IF HE WILL CHEAT WITH YOU, HE WILL CHEAT ON YOU"....guess she'll be getting her nose busted next!!!! Now that's what you call TRASH!

Michelle.......no one defended her. But I will, no matter what the case may be she does not deserve to have her nose busted by a neanderthal who can't keep his penis in his pants. So, with that being said.....she had every right to be upset. When the other woman has her nose busted I will not say the same because when you play with fire you are bound to get burned.

After reading all the comments again Michelle is the only person who is on Mr. Letson's side. I wonder why??

DDP officers get to take their cars home if they live within five miles of the city limits, and that is a good policy for the majority of officers nationwide do not live in the city they work in. Remember Decatur's city limits stops, and picks up again due to different annexations, and Decatur has a police jurisdiction that extends into Lawrence Coutny, and city limits in Limestone. The 5 mile limit is from the city limits and not the police jurisdiciton, which would have made it further.

For all of you saying DPD should have fired him, that is hard to do when the accuser, his wife REFUSES to prosecute the case. Just because she pressed charges does not mean the incident happened, and because she now has dropped the charges does not mean that it did not happen, so tell me on what grounds does the department have to fire him? I will be waiting on a legal logical answer. Are we saying because he was accused and arrested on a warrant that his wife swore out that that within it's self is grounds for dismissial? It is not, and I am not taking sides. If we went around punishing people because of accusations what kind of chaos is that? Simply put, DPD extended his promotion probation, and that is all they could do. Had the case gone to court, we would then have all the facts, and then DPD and the City of Decatur if he was found guilty would have grounds for further action, which in this case would be dismissal from the force.

For the record............I agree. He shouldnt be fired because he wasnt found guilty. Thats how it works here. Thank goodness!

If he hit her, he should be fired. However, as I researched the story, I did not find where any documented evidence or witnesses presented that would verify that his wife has a busted nose. Therefore the warrant was issued based on an accusation only, without any supporting evidence, and then dropped. Yes, many time battered women will drop charges against their abusive husbands and continuing with the relationship.That could be the case here, but without the DPD or anybody else verifying that apparent abuse had taken place, Sgt. Letson has a right to keep his job.

Yet, we are a people that likes to pretend we know all of a story and then pass judgement based upon the actual limited information we have about the story.

Our judicial system is rightly based on a presumption of innocence until proven guilty by way of due process. Those who are charged with the responsibility to decide guilty or not guilty are impartial judges and juries, and they decide based on the evidence presented in a case. We don't get to convict someone based on our like or dislike of the individuals involved in a case. We don't get to convict someone based on our own prior experiences with similar situations. That is what the jury selection process is about: to find a fair and impartial jury if the case comes to trial.

When marital disputes are involved it is not unusual for one or both parties to falsely accuse the other of things that never happened. It is also not unusual for people to act in ways they normally would not due to the intense emotions involved. Based on what has been presented publicly in this particular case there are many possible scenarios that could explain the charges that were filed and then later dropped against the officer. Some of those scenarios would include an actual physical altercation on 10/10/2012, but some scenarios could explain the accusation without such an altercation taking place. It is not clear to us beyond reasonable doubt which scenario actually took place, and it does not appear a court will ever be convened to determine that. The Decatur Police Department conducted their own internal revue and appropriately placed the officer on desk duty as a precautionary measure while the charges were pending. They have since returned him to full duty after the charges were dropped, as they should have unless their internal revue revealed a compelling reason, supported by actual evidence, that they should not have.

What appears to be certain in this case is that at the least either a physical altercation took place or a false accusation was made, but we do not know which it was. As the situation now stands we should give the benefit of the doubt to both the officer and his wife in this matter. It is not our right to pass judgement on either without clear evidence of wrongdoing. Neither is it appropriate for us to publicly speculate as to why the accuser decided to drop the charges.

Hope everyone in the Trinity area realizes that he is also a youth league football coach.... You want this hot head coaching your kids?