Denver police Officer James Turney will go to court to appeal his 10-month suspension in the controversial 2003 fatal shooting of 15-year-old Paul Childs, his attorney said Monday.
Turney shot Childs, who was developmentally disabled, when the teen stepped toward him holding a kitchen knife.
Earlier this month, the Denver Civil Service Commission decided to reinstate Turney’s suspension after Denver’s manager of safety, Al LaCabe, appealed a hearing officer’s decision to suspend Turney for five days.
Turney has already served the 10-month suspension without pay.
Turney’s attorney, Doug Jewell, said that the commission’s decision to overturn the hearing officer’s ruling was “arbitrary and capricious,” prompting Turney’s decision to appeal.
DENVER
Suspect held in man’s Jan. beating death
Denver police have arrested Joseph Jesse Diaz, 30, on suspicion of the January murder of 49-year-old Joseph Silletto, police spokeswoman Virginia Quiñones said Monday.
Police, in a news release, said Diaz is suspected of beating Silletto to death at 4704 Gaylord St. in Denver and then fleeing.
He was arrested Friday, and is being held on suspicion of first-degree murder.
BROOMFIELD
2 men charged with fraud of 83-year-old
Two men have been arrested after allegedly soliciting $20,000 in checks from an 83-year-old Broomfield woman who thought she was giving money to a charity, according to the Broomfield Police.
The woman thought she had been donating money to the “Denver Metro Children’s Help Center.”
Broomfield police said they arrested Danny Kleiman, 43, of Lakewood and David Dale Werkmeister, 42, of Glendale, as they approached the victim’s home on April 19.
They were charged with felony theft from an at-risk adult and misdemeanor charity fraud.
GOLDEN
Guard gets 10 years for sex with teen
A security officer at Lookout Mountain Youth Services Center in Golden was sentenced Monday to 10 years to life in prison for having sex with a 16-year-old boy being held at the facility.
Heather Rose Robbins, 29, of Englewood pleaded guilty in January to sexual assault on a child by a person in a position of trust and unlawful sex in a penal institution.
The five to six encounters took place between May 2004 and August 2005, authorities said.
Once Robbins leaves prison, she will be monitored through intensive supervised probation as part of her sentence.
DENVER
Attempted-murder trial delayed to Sept.
The attempted-murder trial of Brian Kenneth Hicks, accused of trying to kill a woman who later was gunned down before she could testify at his trial, has been pushed back to September.
Hicks, 28, is accused of trying to shoot 28-year-old Kalonniann Clark in June 2005 outside a nightclub, prosecutors say. His trial was to have begun Monday.
Clark survived, but she was gunned down outside her Denver home last December, a few days before she was scheduled to testify against Hicks, who was in jail at the time. No arrests have been made in her murder.
Hicks is charged with two attempted-homicide counts, possession of a handgun by a previous offender and illegal discharge of a weapon in connection with the 2005 attempt on Clark’s life.
Hicks allegedly shot at two women.
A motions hearing in the attempted-murder case is scheduled for Aug. 9 and the trial date is set for Sept. 10.
MONUMENT
Victim of car fire ID’d as Monument man
A man killed Friday when his car caught fire south of Sedalia has been identified as William Sass, 73, of Monument.
Three fire departments responded about 12:30 p.m. to reports of a car on fire near the 700 block of County Road 105, according to the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office.
Sass was found on the ground near the burning car.
JEFFERSON COUNTY
Columbine Memorial has funds to finish
The Columbine Memorial Committee announced Monday that enough money has been raised to finish construction on the $1.5 million project by early summer.
The fundraising campaign has been “very productive,” chairman Bob Easton said in a statement and includes a significant anonymous donation.
The memorial, in Clement Park adjacent to Columbine High School, is about 70 percent complete.
DENVER
DPS adds four to its senior management
A former corporate executive, middle school principal, pharmaceutical company employee and public affairs expert will all come on board to Denver Public Schools’ senior team, Superintendent Michael Bennet announced Monday.
Thomas Boasberg, the district’s new chief operating officer, is a former vice president for Level 3 Communications. He will make $150,000 with a potential for a $40,000 bonus.
Michael Gaither, former principal of Martin Luther King School in northeast Denver, will head the district’s secondary school reform effort. His salary will stay the same at $91,756.
Alex Sanchez will be the district’s chief spokesman. He was hired from Pfizer. He will make $70,000.
Ken Santistevan will work in the district’s community relations office.
Santsistevan comes from the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, and he’ll make $68,000.
The district said they’re trying to find a grant to cover his salary.
DOUGLAS COUNTY
Complaint details claims of duo’s affair
They would meet in the early mornings for coffee and kisses and even showered together at the courthouse, records show.
According to a complaint filed Friday, prosecutor Laurie Steinman and Judge Grafton Biddle, who are no longer in their jobs, had an affair that lasted for months in 2006.
The complaint, filed with the Attorney Regulation Counsel of the Colorado Supreme Court, also says that Steinman argued two cases while Biddle was the presiding judge.
Both worked in Douglas County District Court.
They will get a chance to argue their sides at a disciplinary hearing.
If the complaint is proven, they could face punishment up to disbarment.
