Parts of Anthony Piercy sentencing report made public

Parts of the sentencing assessment report for a Missouri State Highway Patrol trooper were made public last week through online court records.

Three of the six pages of the report were available on CaseNet, the state’s online court filing system. Morgan County Circuit Clerk Lori Moon said an issue with Community Services of Missouri, the private firm that put together the report, led to the three pages being available publicly, rather than restricted to just those involved with the case.

Anthony Piercy is set to receive his punishment related to the death of Brandon Ellingson on September 19. Piercy pleaded guilty to negligent operation of a vessel, a misdemeanor, last month. Ellingson fell off Piercy’s patrol boat on May 31, 2014 while handcuffed, and drowned when the life vest Piercy used came off.

Moon said she removed the public access to the documents once ABC 17 News called asking for the other three pages.

The report by Community Services of Missouri details some of Piercy’s past, the 2014 death of Ellingson and parts of interviews done with people involved. The pages available do not show what sentence the firm recommended, but does offer some special conditions for Judge Roger Prokes to consider. If given supervised probation, the report recommended the judge give him 200 hours of community service.

Only the first, third and fifth pages could be found online. Those include a narrative of the crime Piercy pleaded guilty to, an description of Piercy’s past and his proposed home and employment plan. The final page also contains part of the report’s “conclusion,” but does not show the exact recommendation made to the judge.

The report details some feelings people close to the case have about the proper punishment. Craig Ellingson told the person writing the report he felt the Highway Patrol tried to cover up what happened that day on Piercy’s boat and in the aftermath.

“He believes that Piercy should be sentenced to serve prison time for the death of his son, feels that Piercy’s actions were negligent, and his knowledge of boating procedures was lacking,” the report said.

Ellingson told ABC 17 News on Wednesday that he was upset the pages were made public. He hoped many details of the case, such as Piercy’s speed of 46 m.p.h. and the improper use of the life vest, made it into the report for the judge’s consideration.

Piercy’s wife, Laura, told the office she felt her husband could finish supervised probation successfully. Since the incident, Piercy has “endured sharp criticism and derogatory comments from people in their small community,” the report said.

Piercy was assigned to duty on the water in 2014 after the Highway Patrol merged with the Water Patrol in 2011. Piercy was a long-time road trooper, working the area of Morgan County for several years. Patrol leaders expressed concern with the training of those officers moving onto the water.

Laura Piercy referenced her own disappointment with the merger in the report.

“‘I wish the Highway Patrol and Water Patrol had never merged…I wish that day had never happened,'” the report quotes Laura Piercy as saying.

A class B misdemeanor comes with a maximum six months in jail and mandatory probation.

Piercy’s attorney Shane Farrow declined to comment on the report.

(Editor’s note, 9/8: The original version of this story said an issue with Missouri Probation and Parole and the Morgan County Circuit Clerk led to the documents being made available. Circuit Clerk Lori Moon clarified her comment to say it was an issue with Community Services of Missouri, a private firm that put the report together.)