DENVER—A woman suing Denver police over the shooting death of her husband wants access to Police Chief Gerald Whitman’s internal-affairs file to try to establish a pattern of lax discipline.
Kenneth Padilla told The Denver Post that he wants Whitman’s file as part of a federal lawsuit in the 2007 death of Jason Gomez. Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey determined that officers reasonably believed a cigarette lighter Gomez had was a gun.
Padilla hopes to establish a lax pattern of discipline based on Whitman’s experience within the department since 1982.
Police spokesman Sonny Jackson declined to comment because litigation is pending.
Gomez’s widow, Vicki Lynn Trujillo, is seeking $10 million in damages.
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Information from: The Denver Post,
