The Denver Post
Cop's appeal of suspension winds down
Saturday, October 30, 2004 -
Denver police officer James Turney's appeal of his 10- month suspension came to a close Friday with widely differing testimony.
After nine days of testimony, attorneys for both sides were ordered to write their closing arguments and present them to the hearing officer, retired Colorado Court of Appeals Judge John Criswell, by Dec. 6. Criswell then ordered the attorneys to meet Dec. 13 to argue whether they want to have oral arguments. On Friday, several ministers from the Greater Denver Ministerial Alliance - a broad coalition of predominantly black churches - testified that they were extremely upset when Police Chief Gerry Whitman recommended that Turney be suspended for 20 days. Turney was suspended for shooting and killing 15-year- old Paul Childs, a developmentally disabled boy who was waving a knife around in his home when police were called. Turney, backed by numerous other officers with at least two holding non-lethal Taser guns, ordered Childs to drop the knife, then shot him four times. He was suspended in April for 10 months and now is appealing that suspension. The Rev. Patrick Demmer, pastor of Graham Memorial Church and vice president of the ministerial alliance, described the black community as "a pressure cooker" when Whitman recommended 20 days. "We asked to meet with Mayor (John) Hickenlooper because 20 days was disrespectful. We wanted nothing less than one year." Pastor Reginald Holmes, president of the alliance, said he was reluctant to specify a length for Turney's suspension because it would have placed a value on Paul Childs' life. He said he definitely wanted Turney off the streets. After lunch, retired police Cmdr. Mike O'Neil defended Turney's actions. "He (Turney) should have done exactly what he did - maintain contact and demand surrender," O'Neil said. "He clearly put his life on the line, and that's what we get paid for." He called Turney a good cop but wouldn't go as far as to call him "a very good cop." He said Turney deserved discipline for threatening his mother-in-law over the phone a few days before shooting Childs. Assistant City Attorney Jack Wesoky asked O'Neil, a 37- year veteran of the police force, if he would have fired his weapon at Childs. "I don't know. I might have ended up being stabbed to death," O'Neil said. "I've been on about 5,000 calls. Every incident involving a knife is different. Training cannot address every one of them. That's why we have training principles." O'Neil said Turney was right in not letting Childs exit the house into the front yard. "If it had gotten out onto the front yard, it would greatly exacerbate the situation. We wanted to control the situation on the front-door stoop." |