NORTH MYRTLE BEACH -- Jeff Senter - the former police officer who was fired after a public confrontation with Melissa Edge, the wife of state Rep. Tracy Edge - presented his case for reinstatement to the city's grievance committee on Monday.
The four-person committee now has 20 days to make its recommendation to City Manager Mike Mahaney, who ultimately has the final say over Senter's future with the Police Department.
Senter had planned to open his grievance hearing to the public but changed his mind last week. The private hearing lasted for about two hours at City Hall.
Senter last week also withdrew from a lawsuit that seeks to force the city to release a police dashboard camera video of his confrontation with Melissa Edge.
Lawyer and state Rep. Thad Viers, R-Myrtle Beach, delivered a legal document to City Attorney Chris Noury on Friday to show that Senter had withdrawn from the lawsuit.
The Sun News and William Bailey, the city's former public safety director, still are suing the city for release of the video under the S.C. Freedom of Information Act.
Viers also filed the legal document at the courthouse in Conway, according to Gregory McCollum, a lawyer who represents Senter.
It is not clear who Viers is representing or why he delivered the document to Noury.
Senter said Viers is not doing any legal work for him.
Viers did not return telephone calls to The Sun News.
Noury declined to say who Viers told him he was representing.
Kenneth Moss - a Little River lawyer who represents Bailey in the lawsuit - said he believes Viers is working for Tracy Edge, but he has not received any correspondence from Viers related to the case.
Tracy Edge, R-North Myrtle Beach, and Melissa Edge did not return telephone calls to The Sun News.
Tracy Edge previously has said that neither he nor his wife "asked for any special treatment and have had no role or involvement in actions or decisions made by the city."
Senter said he withdrew from the lawsuit because the city allowed him to review the video last week. The city previously had denied Senter's requests to watch the video.
"When I got the opportunity to come up here and view it, I got the information I needed to defend my actions," he said.
Senter said he does not want the video to become public because it shows Melissa Edge in a mentally distressed state.
"If it was a criminal matter, I could understand that," he said. "But somebody having mental distress, I don't think that needs to be out in the press."
Moss said he also understands that Melissa Edge paid for a one-year gym membership for Senter days before he withdrew from the lawsuit. Moss said he plans to request that the city release all records related to that membership at the city's Aquatic and Fitness Center.
City records show Senter and his two children obtained one-year memberships - totaling $660 - to the center on Wednesday. Sales receipts show someone called in a credit card number to pay for the memberships. The receipts do not include a name or address.
Senter declined to say whether Melissa Edge paid for his gym membership.
"I'm just going to tell you she feels very bad about what happened to me," Senter said after his hearing. "Of course, I'm unemployed. If I said I need $100 to pay my utility bill, she'd probably give me $100. And I guarantee you if you asked for $100 to pay yours, she'd give it to you. She's just that kind of person."
The gym membership and Senter's decision to close his hearing and withdraw from the lawsuit came days after the city sent letters on Nov. 9 to everyone who appears on the dash-cam video.
Those letters - which were sent to the Edges and others - informed recipients that the city planned to release the video Friday. Senter's withdrawal from the lawsuit halted that release.
Senter also declined to say Monday whether Melissa Edge is the person he was talking to on another dash-cam video in which he can be heard criticizing Bailey and Mayor Marilyn Hatley for their response to a 2009 wildfire that destroyed homes in the Barefoot Resort neighborhood.
On that dash-cam video, which was recorded in the days after the fire, Senter can be heard talking to a woman about the fire and their personal relationship.
"All I can tell you is that it was a personal friend," Senter said, referring to the woman whose voice can be heard on the dash-cam video. "It could have been my mother, it could have been anybody. I'm not going to get them involved in it."
Senter said he feels confident the grievance committee "will do the right thing."
"I went in there and told the truth," Senter said. "I gave the committee all the facts, and they were very attentive. Hopefully, I've given them the facts they need to come back with a decision in my favor."
Mahaney has said he is withholding the dash-cam video of the confrontation because its disclosure "would constitute unreasonable invasion of personal privacy."
Mahaney has said he believes the city will lose a court challenge, but he wants a judge to force him to release the video as protection against possible future litigation. The city also could be forced to pay all legal costs associated with the lawsuit.
State court rulings previously have declared such police videos are public documents obtainable under the FOIA.
Senter, a 16-year veteran with the city's Police Department, was fired Oct. 6 as a result of the incident with Melissa Edge. Senter says he was wrongfully terminated and he hopes the grievance committee recommends to Mahaney that he be reinstated.
Mahaney will have the final say in any disciplinary proceedings against Senter. Following the committee's recommendation, Mahaney could uphold the firing, reinstate Senter or take other disciplinary action.
Senter has said he was on duty and talking with city employees at the Cherry Grove fire station about 9:45 p.m. Sept. 14 when Melissa Edge drove her car into the parking lot.
Senter said he and Melissa Edge had been close friends but he had not talked with her since late June. Melissa Edge got out of her car and confronted Senter, he said.
"She wanted to know if I had been talking about her," Senter said. "She was very emotional, and she said she wasn't going to leave."
Senter said he activated his police car's dashboard camera and told Melissa Edge that she was being recorded.
The confrontation lasted for several minutes and Senter and his supervisor - police Lt. Mike Baldasarre - decided to ask Tracy Edge to come to the fire station and escort his wife home. The two officers also consulted with North Myrtle Beach interim public safety director Rick Buddelmeyer on how to handle the situation, Senter said.
No charges were filed, and Senter did not write a report about the incident. He said he did not see any reason to arrest Melissa Edge.
"I've had conversations with Mrs. Edge since this because we were close friends," Senter said Monday. "She's been supportive. She's very sorry for what happened."
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