Then on Oct. 29, 2010 a federal jury found Turner guilty of accepting a $1,000 bribe and lying about it to the FBI. State law would have automatically removed Turner from office on Jan. 25, 2011, the day he was sentenced to prison. But the City Council did not wait.

On Dec. 1, 2010, the Council voted 11-1 to throw Turner out of office, with the lone opposing vote coming from Councilor Charles C. Yancey. Turner left City Hall the next day and eventually went to prison.

But Turner and 15 constituents sued in federal court. US District Judge Mark L. Wolf rejected Turner’s request to halt a special election to fill the seat he had held for a decade. But Wolf petitioned the Supreme Judicial Court to ask whether the City Council had the authority under state law to oust Turner from office.

“This case is not moot,” Wolf wrote in February 2011. “Turner still seeks damages, including back pay, for the alleged violation of his rights under the United States Constitution that resulted from his expulsion from the council, which he contends violated state law.”