A city judge dismissed former Baltimore Police Commissioner Kevin Clark’s $120 million lawsuit Tuesday, but his attorney vowed an immediate appeal.

Dwight Pettit, Clark’s lawyer, said the city government and its judges have apparently ignored a ruling from the state’s highest court, the Court of Appeals, which ruled Clark’s firing illegal.

“The city is defiant,” Pettit said. “The local circuit court judges are not giving the due and necessary weight to the Court of Appeals.”

Baltimore City Circuit Judge Albert Matricciani acknowledged in his ruling that Clark’s contract apparently violated state law, but that was not enough to win damages from the city.

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“The only basis Clark can assert for a violation of his due process rights is that the mayor relied on a contract provision that was later deemed to be invalid,” Matricciani wrote. “This is insufficient as a matter of law to support a claim for punitive damages.”

Sterling Clifford, a spokesman for Mayor Sheila Dixon and Police Commissioner Frederick Bealefeld, said city officials are pleased.

“It’s a ruling the city believes is the right one.”

City Solicitor George Nilson noted that Clark has had success in the appeals courts in Annapolis, but that the “correct” decision has been made in Baltimore.

But Pettit said: “I thought once the high court of the state says what the law is, all other courts get in line.”

Clark was fired by then-Mayor Martin O’Malley after an alleged domestic dispute. Clark and his top commanders  were escorted from their offices by a SWAT team. Clark contends he was dismissed because of an investigation into possible City Hall corruption.

sjanis@baltimoreexaminer.com

lbroadwater@baltimoreexaminer.com