The Denver city attorney’s office has agreed to pay $35,000 to an outside law firm to investigate its actions during the Jamal Hunter lawsuit.
The review is part of reached between the city and Hunter, who filed a lawsuit after being choked by a deputy and beaten and scalded by other inmates in 2011.
The firm Lewis Roca Rothgerber will conduct the review into employees’ actions, according to a copy of the contract obtained by The Denver Post.
Already, Lewis Roca Rothgerber had a two-year, $25,000 contract with the city attorney’s office to assist with a lawsuit now in the appeals stage.
Trey Rogers, an attorney who specializes in public law and government relations, will lead the investigation, the contract shows.
The investigation has begun, but no time frame has been set for its completion, said City Attorney Scott Martinez.
“We want it to be thorough,” he said.
The review was called for after Hunter’s legal team about the case despite U.S. District Judge John Kane’s order to turn over all related documents. The e-mails were between attorneys and the Denver Police Department’s internal affairs bureau.
The city attorney’s office handed over the e-mails, and an outside firm hired to represent the city excused itself from the case. Two other were brought in to represent the city in the case, which eventually was settled for $3.25 million.
Assistant City Attorney Stuart Shapiro was placed on paid leave pending an investigation into allegations he withheld the e-mails and improperly pressured police. He remains on leave, Martinez said.
The city also has hired former FBI agent Jim Davis to help guide its efforts to reform the sheriff’s department.
Davis will be for five months of work.
