Denver to appeal decision that revoked officer's punishment in fatal shooting
Saturday, January 22, 2005 at 10:00PM
TheSpook
City officials said Thursday they will fight to restore a 10-month
suspension for a police officer who shot and killed a developmentally
disabled teenager. A Civil Service Commission hearing officer had
thrown out Officer James Turney's suspension on Tuesday, saying Turney
did not violate department policy when he killed 15-year-old Paul
Childs in 2003. The hearing officer instead suspended Turney for five
days and ordered him to lose one day's pay for allegedly threatening
his former mother-in-law. That incident had been considered part of the
original 10-month suspension imposed by city Manager of Safety Al
LaCabe. City Attorney Cole Finegan said the city will appeal hearing
officer John Criswell's decision to district court next week. In a
written release, Finegan said Criswell had misinterpreted the rules in
his decision, released Tuesday. ''... We also believe that his decision
involves policy considerations that reverberate far beyond the Turney
case,'' Finegan said. LaCabe said at the time that he suspended Turney
that the officer had ''exposed himself and others to an immediate risk
of harm'' in the Childs incident but did not violate police rules on
using his weapon. [more]
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