Quintana testifies to get job back

AUSTIN (KXAN) - Former Austin police Leonardo Quintana is on the stand Friday morning in an attempt to get his job back in a civil service hearing .

Quintana is also the officer involved in the May 2009 shooting death of Nathaniel Sanders .

On Thursday, Austin Police Department Chief Art Acevedo - along with several of Quintana's former supervisors - testified why they do not think Quintana should be reinstated to the force based on numerous cases of poor judgment.

The most talked about incident was a Facebook picture Quintana posted on his first day back on the job after the Sanders shooting, which showed him carrying an assault rifle with the caption "back to work."

Quintana was indefinitely suspended by Acevedo after a DWI arrest in January. Much of Thursday's testimony focused around Quintana's decision to drive that night.

Supervisors said it was a conscious decision which reflected poorly upon the department.

On Friday, Quintana defended his actions on the night of the Nathaniel Sanders shooting.

"Although I was doing what I felt was necessary to protect my life and my partners life, it is something I will live with for the rest of my life," said Quintana.

The officer also says questions from the department about poor judgment are not warranted despite three previous suspensions.

"I have been an exemplary officer. I don’t believe I have a pattern of making bad decisions like my chain-of-command has said.”

When talking about the facebook post, Quintana says it was his instructor's gun and he took the picture to show his young son, who is a fan of online video war games.

"It was a way to show I was proud to be back at work and there was no underlying statement."

Quintana also talked about his failure to activate his dashcam video on the night of the Sanders shooting. He says initially it was a tactical decision because of an orange light which lights up when the camera is turned on.

He says there have been times when suspects flee after seeing the light and he wishes he would have put black tape over the light like other some other officers have done before.

The subject of his alcohol use also came up and his decision to drive the night he was arrested for DWI. Quintana says he began drinking heavily, almost everyday, after the shooting incident.

The hearing supervisor will have 30 days after the completion of the hearing to make a decision on whether or not to reinstate Quintana.

You can follow live tweets of Quintana's testimony on Chris Sadeghi's twitter page.