Denver Post
Childs family plans suit
Wednesday, January 07, 2004 -
The family of a teenager fatally shot by a Denver police officer last summer has notified the city that it may sue for more than $5 million.
Officer James Turney shot and killed Paul Childs, a 15-year-old mentally disabled teenager, on July 5, prompting an outcry from community leaders who accused the police of using excessive force. Childs was at home, threatening family members with a knife, when police were called to the scene, according to police reports. On Dec. 30, Childs' mother, Helen, and sister, Ashley, sent an intent-to-sue letter to Mayor John Hickenlooper and other city officials. The family has suffered "loss of companionship" and intangible emotional injuries that are "incomprehensible and substantial beyond measure" by witnessing the shooting, according to the letter, which is the first official notification of the family's plans to file a lawsuit. The family is represented by the law firm of celebrity lawyer Johnnie Cochran. Eric Ferrer, the lawyer in Cochran's firm representing the family, could not be reached for comment Tuesday. City Attorney Cole Finegan said the letter preserves the Childs family's right to sue in state court. The deadline for filing such a letter with city officials is six months from the event causing the claim. A federal lawsuit could be filed up to two years from the date of the incident, Finegan said. Finegan said the city has not held discussions with the Childs family about a legal settlement. In the letter, Helen and Ashley Childs claim that Paul lost his life "as a result of the intentional, reckless and/or deliberately indifferent actions" of Denver police officers and emergency-response dispatchers. According to the letter, Paul carried a knife into the living room from the kitchen. "No one at the house felt threatened by Paul, but Ashley Childs called 911, not because they were afraid of Paul but because of Paul's good rapport with the police," the letter says. "Ms. Childs believed that the police could talk to Paul," the letter continues. "When Ashley attempted to tell the 911 operator of Paul's mental and developmental disabilities, the 911 operator said those details were not important." The letter contends that police and emergency-response dispatchers were not properly trained by the city in using lethal force and in handling people with mental disabilities. Those failures were a "substantial factor in causing the death of Paul Childs," the letter said. According to the letter, police officers cleared family members out of the house and convinced Paul to step out from behind a door. An officer yelled "Tase him! Tase him!" - urging the use of a nonlethal Taser - before Turney shot Childs several times. Several witnesses stated that Paul did not make a quick motion toward Turney. In fact, Ashley states that Paul was backing up, the letter says. In the letter, the Childs family says it has claims against Turney and officers Todd Geddes, Randall Krouse, David Naysmith and Jeffrey Jenkins. In October, the Denver district attorney cleared Turney of any criminal wrongdoing. In addition, the family says it has claims against "Denver 911 Agent Sorrentino," but the letter doesn't give a full name. The family also says it has claims against Division Chief Steve Cooper, Capt. Ed Connors and other unnamed officers. In mid-December, Hickenlooper unveiled a series of reforms to improve training and review of the use of deadly force in the Police Department. Under that plan, the department will train 300 officers in crisis intervention, to boost the total number of trained officers to 500. |