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The Denver Post
Denver to appeal decision reducing punishment for Turney
Thursday, January 20, 2005 -
The city of Denver said today it will appeal a ruling that reduced the suspension of a Denver police officer in the fatal shooting of a developmentally disabled teenager armed with a knife.
Officer James Turney shot 15-year-old Paul Childs on July 5, 2003, after being called to the Childs family's home. Childs' family had called police as the teen grabbed a kitchen knife in their northeast Denver home. The shooting sparked intense controversy and a re-examination of Denver police policy in such situations. The city agreed to pay the Childs family a $1.3 million settlement after the family threatened to sue.
Turney said he was defending himself, but city Manager of Safety Al LaCabe ruled he could have avoided the shooting and suspended him for 10 months without pay. Then, last week, Civil Service Commission hearing officer John Criswell found that Turney's only violations were making a threatening telephone call to his former mother-in-law and excessive use of his cellphone while on duty the day before the shooting. For that, Criswell reduced Turney's 10-month suspension to five days and a fine of one day's pay. Criswell, a retired state appeals court judge, found that Turney did not violate department policy in the moments before shooting Childs. Today, the Denver City Attorney's office said it would appeal that ruling. "After analyzing the decision and weighing all of our options, as well as conferring with the Mayor and the Manager of Safety, we will file our Notice to Appeal with the Civil Service Commission by January 28," City Attorney Cole Finegan said in a statement. "We strongly believe that the Hearing Officer erroneously interpreted Departmental and Civil Service rules in reaching his decision, and we also believe that his decision involves policy considerations that reverberate far beyond the Turney case." Finegan said his office "will seek a stay of the Hearing Officer's decision to stop any reimbursement of back wages and benefits to Officer Turney until the City's appeals have been ruled upon. "In addition, the City will file an action for judicial review with the Denver District Court and a request to hold that action in abeyance pending a decision by the Commission, thereby preserving the City's right to appeal regarding issues that are not within the jurisdiction of the Commission." Turney has been on leave since April. Police officials say they do not plan to return him to patrol duty. Denver Post staff writers Sean Kelly and Kris Hudson contributed to this report. |