A case that started amid a crowd outside the Colorado Rockies’ opening day four years ago spilled into a federal courtroom Tuesday, as the lawsuit of a man who says Denver police officers assaulted him during an arrest went to trial.
Attorneys for the man, John Heaney, and for the four officers named in the lawsuit presented starkly different portraits of what happened in the crowd. Heaney’s attorney, Lonn Heymann, said Heaney suffered an unprovoked “brutal beating” during the arrest. Marc Colin, the officers’ attorney, contended that Heaney threw the first punch and resisted arrest.
What is undisputed is that two officers — Michael Cordova and James Costigan — encountered Heaney while working undercover in plainclothes on a ticket-scalping investigation outside Coors Field in April 2008. Heaney sideswiped Cordova while riding his bike against the light across 20th Street at Blake Street.
Heymann said Tuesday that Cordova began yelling and cursing Heaney while walking toward him. Colin said Cordova shouted once at Heaney, which prompted Heaney to turn around and ride back toward Cordova.
Heaney was originally charged with assault, but prosecutors dropped the charges when a videotape emerged that appeared to show officers assaulting Heaney. Prosecutors then charged Cordova with assault, but a jury acquitted him after concluding that the video showed Cordova did not force Heaney’s face into the ground.
John Ingold: 303-954-1068 or jingold@denverpost.com
