If you search for information about the murder trial McKenzie Mattingly faced in 2004, you won't find anything in the Jefferson County judicial system.
The files, arrest records and videotapes of the trial are gone. They were expunged after Mattingly, an officer for the Louisville Metro Police Department, was acquitted of murder in the case of Michael Newby. Newby was 19 when he was shot and killed by Mattingly during an undercover drug operation in January 2004.
After the shooting, Mattingly lost his job with the department and was charged with murder. His trial lasted a week and in the end the jury found him not guilty.
While the case was over in the judicial proceedings and the file essentially erased from the record, it was just the beginning for Mattingly. He eventually was reinstated with the department and given back pay. But Mattingly immediately resigned, citing "incompatible working relationship with the police chief."
Mattingly was soured on his experience with the Louisville Metro Police Department's chief, but he wasn't ready to give up on being a police officer. On Monday, more than six years after being cleared of murder charges, he regained that chance after being hired by the Bardstown Police Department as a patrol officer.
While the records have been expunged from the courts, the incident can't be expunged from the public's mind.
"That's hard to escape," he said.
But Mattingly said he isn't worried how the public will react to his new position on the force, "I'm just happy to be back."
Mattingly started his law enforcement career in Bardstown in 1996. He left in 1999 to join the Jefferson County Police Department before it merged with Louisville Police and became the Louisville Metro Police Department.
Bardstown Mayor Dick Heaton said he and Police Chief Charles Marksbury looked at Mattingly's entire police record before deciding to have Mattingly join the force.
"He left here on good terms and has many letters of recommendation in his file," Heaton said. The fact that Mattingly was acquitted of the murder charges, had his record expunged and was reinstated with the Louisville Metro Police Department after the trial were all factors in his new employment with the city.
"We based our decision on those facts," Heaton said.
As mayor, Heaton made the final decision on hiring Mattingly for the force. Although Chief Marksbury makes recommendations about hires, the ultimate responsibility falls to the mayor. Heaton said the City Council was also informed of the decision to hire Mattingly in a closed session recently.
With Mattingly being a veteran officer, Heaton said the city actually saves money with his hire because it doesn't have to invest in police officer training. Though he assumes there will be some public discussion concerning the city's hiring of Mattingly, Heaton is confident in the job Mattingly will be able to do on the force.
"We're supposed to have a system of innocent until proven guilty," Heaton said, adding that with Mattingly being acquitted of all charges against him, that's where matters should remain.
As for Mattingly, he is simply looking to get back into police work. Since resigning from the Louisville police force, Mattingly has had a lawn and landscaping business and served in Afghanistan training police officers. He was planning another trip to Afghanistan when he heard about the opening at Bardstown. Mattingly decided the time might be right to get back into policing.
"I'll always be a cop at heart," he said. "I'm grateful and humbled to have the opportunity to come back to the community and get back into a profession that I love."
Although he won't forget the shooting in January 2004, he still feels he did what was necessary to ensure his safety.
"Part of being a police officer is risking your life," he said. "I wish there had been another outcome. That's not the outcome anyone wanted."
"You don't go through something like that without it being a life-changing experience. I think about it every day," he said.