An attorney who represents a dozen victims of alleged police brutality in Westminster has asked the judge in the criminal prosecution of the police to remove the Adams County district attorney’s office and appoint a special prosecutor.
“I’m always suspicious when a law enforcement agency prosecutes another law enforcement agency, especially when the Adams County district attorney’s office is prosecuting the Westminster police whom they have to deal with on a daily basis,” said attorney David Lane. “I’m afraid that the fix is in.”
Lane said he represents Scott Danielson and 11 others “who are getting ready to sue the city of Westminster for police brutality.”
Danielson was arrested after a police chase last August and beaten. Four Westminster police were later indicted on brutality and false reporting because of that incident.
On Friday, the four officers accepted a plea bargain in which they would plead guilty to lesser charges, for which the prosecutor, Tom Quammen, would recommend they be placed on probation and have a chance to return to their careers. However, Adams County District Chief Judge Harlan Bockman called the agreement “a total travesty” and proceeded with plans to put the officers on trial.
Lane said Monday that Danielson’s constitutional rights were violated because he never was told about the plea bargain. In his motion, Lane wrote that the Colorado Constitution guarantees his client the right “to be informed of and present for all critical stages of the criminal justice process.” He wrote that “critical stage” includes “any disposition of the complaint or charges against the person accused.”
Adams County Assistant District Attorney Michael Goodbee said he couldn’t comment on the motion until he had read it.
Legal experts called Lane’s tactic of entering a criminal case in which he doesn’t represent a defendant “an uphill battle.”
“That’s what we call creative lawyering,” said former Arapahoe County District Judge Fred Skillern, now a practicing attorney. “Is there a basis for it under the victim rights statute? No, I’ve never seen a victim seek to have a prosecutor disqualified. It’s highly unusual.”
DU law school professor Jan Laitos said the issue would be Lane’s “standing” in the case, whether he can convince the judge that his client has been “directly and specifically injured” by the act.
“It’s odd, because now you’re having the victim ask that the prosecutor be removed,” he said.
Staff writer Mike McPhee can be reached at 303-820-1409 or mmcphee@denverpost.com.
