The Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals today denied Huntsville police officer William “Ben” Darby’s request for immunity from prosecution on a murder charge.

Darby asked the court to order Madison County Circuit Judge Donna Pate to grant immunity in his case. Pate, after hearing testimony at a hearing last month, declined to grant immunity. If granted immunity, Darby’s murder charge would be dismissed.

Darby asked the appellate court to determine whether Pate “committed clear abuse of discretion.”

Darby is indicted in the killing of 49-year-old Jeffrey Parker, who was armed and suicidal when police went to his west Huntsville home on April 3, 2018. Darby argues that he acted in self-defense, making him immune from prosecution.

The appeals court judges ruled unanimously in denying Darby’s request — what’s known as a petition for writ of mandamus. The ruling was based on a technicality — that Darby’s attorney Robert Tuten didn’t include with the petition a transcript of the immunity hearing that happened in Pate’s courtroom. In the petition, Tuten wrote that the appellate court could get a copy of the transcript from Pate’s court reporter.

“It is not this Court’s responsibility to request additional materials to determine whether a petitioner is entitled to mandamus relief,” the appellate judges wrote in their order today. “Based on the materials before us, Darby has not demonstrated that he has a clear legal right to the requested relief.”

It’s unclear what will happen next in the case. Pate halted the trial and other matters pending the outcome of Darby’s appellate options.

Darby remains on desk duty at the Huntsville police department. The city council has voted to spend up to $125,000 of taxpayer money on his defense.

Darby testified at the immunity hearing that he was acting in defense of himself and other officers when he killed Parker. Parker called police that day, saying he was armed and wanted to kill himself. Body camera video shows Parker sitting on a couch in his living room and pointing a gun to his own head.

Darby testified that he killed Parker with a shotgun because he saw Parker move his gun. Two other police officers — Genisha Pegues and Justin Beckles — testified they didn’t see Parker’s gun move.

Pegues and Beckles were the first cops on the scene that day. Once he got to the scene, Darby’s body camera video shows, he grabbed a shotgun from his patrol car and sprinted to Parker’s home. Body camera video appears to show Beckles standing at the front door of the home, with Pegues inside talking to Parker.

Darby was outside the home, standing behind Beckles, the video shows. From outside, Darby testified, he couldn’t see Parker, who was sitting inside the front room.

When Darby first walked up to the home, he shouted at Pegues to “Point your f---ing gun at him,” video footage revealed.

Within about 20 seconds, Darby pushed past Beckles and Pegues, and entered the front room of the home. Darby himself told Parker multiple times to drop the gun and within 11 seconds of entering the home, Darby shot him in the face.

Darby told the judge that he fatally shot Parker after Parker shrugged his shoulders, causing the gun to move slightly.

Body camera footage of the shooting is dark and didn’t appear to clearly show whether Parker moved the gun.

To be granted immunity, Darby would need to show his actions were more than likely justified — that more than 50 percent of the evidence favors his immunity claim.

“(Darby) provided the Court with ample evidence demonstrating that self defense was reasonable under the circumstances,” Tuten wrote to the appellate court. “Judging the Petitioner’s actions from the standpoint of a reasonable police officer, the Petitioner met his burden of proof and proved he is entitled to immunity as a matter of law by a preponderance of the evidence.”

Pate has issued a gag order that prevents Darby, his attorney and prosecutors from commenting publicly on the case.