Howard and Anne Arundel county police trial boards have even greater separation - consulting with outside counsel.
"The attorney is not involved in the actual board proceedings," Arundel police spokesman Justin Mulcahy said.
Last week, the Baltimore trial board found Officer Michael D. Brassell guilty of assault, but acquitted him of other administrative charges that could have led to his termination, which is what city officials had sought.
The trial board recommended that Brassell be suspended for 60 days without pay.
Malone said he had held plea talks with Grimes a week before the hearing and had complained to him that the charging process was flawed.
When he tried to bring that issue up at the hearing, Malone said, Grimes consulted with the trial board chairman, Deputy Police Maj. Dan Lioli, "and then I was precluded from even making the argument."
Nilson said Brassell got a fair hearing and that "a significant number" of rulings that Grimes helped the trial board members make "went against the prosecution. I'm not sure it's a fair perspective that Mr. Malone was regularly losing on the issues."
