The Denver Post
Suspension for Turney meets rules, city says
Sunday, August 22, 2004 -
A Denver Civil Service Commission hearing officer overstepped his bounds when he ordered that the suspension of police officer James Turney be redefined, court documents allege.
In April, Denver's manager of safety, Al LaCabe, suspended Turney for 10 months for alleged procedural mistakes in the July 2003 fatal shooting of 15-year-old Paul Childs and because the officer allegedly made threats against his former mother-in-law on a cellphone while he was on duty. Turney appealed his suspension, and hearing officer James Criswell ordered on Aug. 10 that LaCabe redefine the suspension and spell out defined time frames for each infraction. Denver City Attorney Cole Finegan filed a motion Thursday in Denver District Court on behalf of LaCabe seeking relief from Criswell's order. "Nothing in the Denver City Charter compels the Manager (LaCabe) to issue Departmental Orders of Discipline so that each rule violated is given a particular penalty as the Hearing Officer concluded in his order," the motion states. "In ordering the Manager of Safety to specify a penalty for each separate rule and regulation violation, the CSC (Civil Service Commission), through its duly appointed Hearing Officer, John A. Criswell, exceeded its jurisdiction," the motion states. Staff writer Kieran Nicholson can be reached at 303 820-1822 or knicholson@denverpost.com .
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