The Denver Postcampaign 2004 - denver district attorney
Shootings by police an issue in DA's race
Friday, April 16, 2004 -
Although the candidates for Denver district attorney recently announced sweeping changes in the way they would handle officer-involved shootings, all three said this week that they are satisfied with some or all of the current system.
The proposed changes were first discussed at a forum about two weeks ago. At the forum, candidate Mitch Morrissey proposed an "open grand jury" so the public can attend cases involving police shootings. Morrissey said this week that his idea can't be implemented at the moment because no law in Colorado authorizes such grand juries. But he said he supports a new state law that would make those types of grand juries open. Morrissey is one of several prosecutors who respond to police shootings in Denver. He said he likes the current decision-making process in the district attorney's office for police shootings. Under that system, the district attorney decides whether to file charges against an officer in a police shooting. "All of the things now going on in a police shooting would go on under my system," Morrissey said. "In most cases, the district attorney with experience, knowledge and understanding of the facts can make the decision whether (a police shooting) can be prosecuted." John Walsh, a former federal prosecutor, says that in some police-shooting cases, the Denver district attorney should be disqualified and outside prosecutors brought in. But like Morrissey, Walsh said he will utilize the current system to make the vast majority of police- shooting decisions. "I think that the current system of having an immediate investigation that goes in and gets the facts as quickly as possible from both officers and any civilian witnesses is crucially important," Walsh said Wednesday. "It is a way of moving the process forward quickly and it is also the best way to get to the truth. "I would not support doing it a different way except if there was some special circumstance," Walsh said. Walsh said that there are three situations where he might ask for an outside prosecutor. They are: when he has a close personal or professional relationship with an officer, where the officer is of such a high rank that there is a particular need to have the trust of the public and the Police Department in the process, and some circumstances where the intensity of public concern about the way an incident has been handled mandates it. "It would happen only occasionally. It wouldn't happen in every case, and it wouldn't necessarily happen in every controversial case," he said. Candidate Beth McCann also likes the way police shootings are investigated. She said that as soon as there is a police shooting, the internal investigation begins. Responding to the scene are officers from the police homicide and internal affairs bureaus and representatives from the district attorney and safety manager's offices. "I fully support keeping that fast response and having the Police Department take immediate action," McCann said. "They typically separate all the officers, they interview them separately, they videotape the interviews, they interview witnesses and videotape their interviews. I think all of that is appropriate and would support continuing it." McCann, a prosecutor in the Denver District Attorney's Office for seven years and now a state deputy attorney general, said that in cases in which it is clear that the officer fired appropriately, she would make the decision on charges. But in most cases, McCann said, she would let grand juries, not the district attorney, make the final decision whether to file charges. McCann said grand juries can subpoena witnesses and request more investigation if necessary. She said she believes that citizen grand juries add a strong element of independence and community input into the proceedings, which doesn't happen when the district attorney makes the final call. She also said that grand juries aren't easily swayed by the prosecutors who present the evidence. "I've been in front of grand juries. They are smart, independent and take their jobs seriously," she said. McCann said that even if a grand jury doesn't indict someone, it has the option of issuing a report about what was found. Under Morrissey's "open grand jury" concept, the district attorney's office would present evidence to grand jurors just like in a regular, closed grand jury. But it would be presented in a setting where the public would be able to attend. Morrissey said that an open grand jury system won't compromise the truth-finding efforts because the police and witness statements are already preserved on videotape. |