Capt. Teri Gardner, the second in command at the Oak Harbor Police Department, married her longtime colleague, Sgt. Carl Seim, in a quiet ceremony last month.

Ironically, it was a disciplinary action directed at Gardner because of the romance that allowed the two officers to rekindle their relationship, according to their attorney, Joan Mell of Fircrest.

At the same time, the discipline issue has further enmeshed the newlyweds in a long-simmering dispute between two factions in the department. The ongoing controversy led to a union no-confidence vote against Gardner, the since-cancelled suspension of a third officer and even the dismissal of a verdict in a child rape case in military court.

Last October, Police Chief Ed Green issued a disciplinary letter to Gardner for her less-than-candid answers about her relationship with Seim; it became an issue because Gardner is Seim’s supervisor, which could cause a conflict of interest.

Mell explained that a former police chief told Gardner and Seim they had to choose between their relationship or their careers; they chose their careers.

But after Green issued the disciplinary letter, Mell said, the police chief ordered Seim to start reporting directly to him instead of Gardner. That meant they were free to date again.

Yet it’s been a bumpy few weeks for the newlyweds. The union representing the department’s police officers passed a “no-confidence” vote against Gardner earlier this month, according to several officers.

The vote was not without controversy, however, and the union meets again this week to discuss the matter further.

Meanwhile, on Monday, officer Patrick Horn was cleared to return to work, said his attorney, Chris Skinner of Oak Harbor. Horn was facing termination for sending text messages to a fellow officer alleging that he saw photographs of Gardner and Seim in a romantic embrace while she was still his superior.

Horn has been on paid administrative leave since February.

Skinner said he discovered that Gardner received a warning letter from Police Chief Ed Green last October in regard to her answers to questions about her relationship with Seim. Skinner said he took exception to the different discipline actions doled to Horn and Gardner and sent the city’s human resources director a letter threatening a wrongful termination lawsuit if Horn was fired.

Skinner said the chief ruled that the allegations against Horn were “unfounded.”

“It’s a complete reversal, which is interesting,” Skinner said.

Gardner is also trying to undo actions taken against her.

Mell asked Island County Prosecutor Greg Banks for a name-clearing hearing in regard to a “potential impeachment disclosure” memorandum he wrote about Gardner.

A potential impeachment disclosure is not a disciplinary letter but a notice that a prosecutor has to present to the defense if an officer involved in a criminal case has a record or a finding of dishonesty in the performance of his or her official duties. That requirement came about because of the United States Supreme Court decision Brady v. Maryland. Consequently, officers accused of lying are labeled “Brady cops.”

Banks wrote that Gardner was accused of “responding deceptively to questions put to her during an internal investigation” into whether she was involved in a romantic relationship with Seim.

The potential impeachment disclosure was based on the discipline letter Green wrote last October. Green and Human Resources Director Sara Piccone questioned Gardner about her relationship with Seim.

During an interview Monday, Mell denied that Gardner was dishonest. When Green and Piccone asked Gardner if she was involved in a relationship with Seim, she denied it because they weren’t at the time.

Mell conceded that Gardner wasn’t completely forthcoming — but not dishonest.

In her letter to Banks, Mell claims that part of Green’s letter was false and that Banks shouldn’t have relied on it to label Gardner a “Brady cop” without giving her an opportunity to respond.

In addition, human resources violated protocols and policies in an inquiry “into a private subject area it had no business invading,” Mell claimed. As human resources director, Piccone felt slighted that Gardner was “more open with the chief about personal issues than with her,” Mell wrote.

Green sent a memorandum to Banks last week clarifying that he had not made a finding of dishonesty against Gardner.

“She was not dishonest,” Mell wrote in an email to Banks. “She has given more than demanded from any of her male counterparts.”

Mell wrote a “cease and desist” letter to Banks on Monday demanding that he stop disseminating his memorandum as part of the potential impeachment material.

Banks replied to Mell last week, saying he was not changing his position on the potential impeachment disclosure material.

Sharing Brady cop information with defense attorneys is a constitutional requirement and not subject to personnel rules or name-clearing hearings, Banks said.

Banks wrote that he must rely on “the face of an official disciplinary memo,” and the standard he must consider is whether a reasonable person who reads the memo would conclude that Gardner was dishonest.

If he doesn’t keep track of and disclose potential impeachment material, Banks wrote that he risks having a case overturned.

“I cannot, and will not, put myself in the untenable position of defending a failure to provide constitutionally required discovery by claiming Capt. Gardner’s disciplinary action was unfair,” Banks wrote.

In fact, a defense attorney in military court was successful Monday in overturning the conviction of a Navy man accused of raping a child because Gardner’s potential impeachment disclosure materials weren’t disseminated.

Gardner was an investigator on the case.

Attorney Mark Kaiman of Bellingham explained that his client was convicted in a court martial in March. He said Gardner “sat on” the information that she was disciplined for dishonesty last October.

The military judge ruled that the information was “absolutely Brady material” and should have been disclosed, Kaiman said.

The overturning of the conviction is an “extraordinary remedy” that Kaiman said he’s rarely seen.

“Then again, I’ve never had a police captain who refuses to turn over Brady material before,” he said.

Mell, who accompanied Gardner to the military court, contends that it was Banks’ memo about Gardner that led to the dismissal, noting the judge said he was relying on Banks’ letter in making his determination.

The letters Banks generated to go with the potential impeachment disclosure are inappropriate, Mells contended. “He should not be making findings or offering his opinion as to the credibility of any witness.”

Kaiman said he will seek a jury trial if the case is retried.

“This time we’re going to have full disclosure from Capt. Gardner,” he said.