Relatives of Frank Lobato may file civil rights lawsuit

The family of Frank Lobato may file a federal civil rights lawsuit in the fatal police shooting of the 63-year-old invalid, their attorney announced Wednesday. The announcement came hours after Denver District Attorney Bill Ritter said that a Denver grand jury could not agree to indict or not to indict officer Ranjan Ford, who shot Lobato. Ritter said he will not prosecute the officer. "All we're interested in is justice," said family attorney Kenneth A. Padilla during a news conference outside his Lafayette Street office. It's unclear when the suit could be filed, but it would likely name the officer, the Denver Police Department and the commanding officers as defendants, Padilla said. At the same time, Padilla may ask a state district court to question Ritter about why he decided against charging Ford. The hope, he said, would be that the court would order prosecution. Another possibility, he said, is to ask the U.S. attorney's office to investigate the shooting. Because governments are immune from lawsuits unless their actions are extremely egregious, the Lobato family may have a hard time winning a civil suit, said former Denver prosecutor Craig Silverman. Still, a civil lawsuit is easier to win than a criminal case. Criminal charges must be proved to a unanimous jury beyond a reasonable doubt. In a civil case, a jury need only find that an event is more likely to have happened than not. [more]