The law sets the standard, not morality, the attorney for the second of two Vicksburg police officers fired after a tryst with a teen argued Tuesday.

&#8220You might not like the fact Bobby Jones was dealing with a young woman,” attorney Marshall Sanders said. &#8220But men deal with young women all the time. Every standard before you now is a legal standard, not a moral standard.”

Sanders asked the three-member Civil Service Commission to reinstate Jones with back pay. A ruling was promised within 10 days.

Jones, 32, and former officer Anthony Lane, 29, have not denied consensual sexual relationships in 2004 with a 17-year-old while she was a student at Vicksburg High School.

Both men faced sexual battery indictments in 2005. Lane, who had been assigned to duty at the school, was tried in June and found innocent and, afterward, the charge against Jones was dropped.

Lane had also been suspended by Police Chief Tommy Moffett and both were fired by city officials after the acquittal. Last Thursday, the commission released a unanimous opinion upholding Lane’s termination and Lane’s next step is an optional appeal to Warren County Circuit Court.

Jones was not assigned to the school and was not sanctioned by Moffett, who also testified in his behalf Tuesday.

&#8220I didn’t think he violated any laws or rules,” Moffett said. &#8220And that’s what I told the (city) board.”

Additionally, Moffett testified he thought Jones was an &#8220exemplary officer” and that he was prepared to &#8220receive Mr. Jones back” after his indictment was dropped.

&#8220You’re not going to find that he violated any law or that he violated any policy,” Sanders emphasized, which provoked a response from Associate City Attorney Walterine Langford.

&#8220Mr. Sanders said Mr. Jones did nothing wrong,” Langford said. &#8220I disagree with that. Mr. Jones, a police officer married with a child and having sex with a high school student, is morally wrong. How can the average parent believe this man is a safe haven for their child?”.

The felony charges the officers faced centered on a state law that defines sexual battery to include an adult having sex with a 16- or 17-year-old if the adult is in a &#8220position of trust or authority.” It lists 16 roles, but doesn’t include &#8220police officer.” Moffett has joined others in asking the Legislature, which meets in January, to amend the law and add law enforcement personnel specifically. Sexual battery carries a maximum 30-year prison term.

Sanders said the relationship had nothing to do with Jones’ employment. &#8220He met her at the mall,” he said. And he also emphasized Jones’ record. &#8220Vicksburg would be better off with guys like this” on the police force, he said. Walter Beamon, who retired in April as a lieutenant in charge of the police department’s traffic division, agreed.

&#8220He was an excellent officer in the traffic division,” Beamon testified. &#8220There’s not anything he did under my command to say he shouldn’t be a police officer.”

The only other witness in Tuesday’s hearing, Lamar Horton, testified for the city. The director of the city’s human resources department, as he did in Lane’s appellate hearing Friday, said press coverage probably inflamed public opinion against the officer.

Sanders then named two reporters for The Vicksburg Post and blamed the newspaper for Jones being without a job for over a year.

&#8220This man’s life is messed up because of the newspaper reports, which could be a misrepresentation of the facts,” Sanders said.

Mayor Laurence Leyens and South Ward Alderman Sid Beauman voted July 19 to deny reinstatement to the officers and said their actions were incompatible with continuing to be a police officer. North Ward Alderman Michael Mayfield dissented, saying a finding there had been no crime should be conclusive.