Former Denver Sheriff Department chief Frank Gale insisted Friday that he never lied about his handling of a fellow employee’s arrest, incarceration and mishandled release from the downtown jail.
Gale said he had worked at the sheriff’s department for more than 20 years and had been involved in countless disciplinary cases through his role in the deputies’ union.
“I know lying about this doesn’t make sense,” Gale said. “If I did it, I would take the hit. But if I lie, it’s fatal. I know that.”
Gale was fired in January. His ended Friday, and a decision is expected to be issued in the next month.
Gale, who was serving as an acting division chief, has said that he was a target of Stephanie O’Malley, Denver’s safety director, because of his involvement with the Fraternal Order of Police. On Thursday, his defense team released a snippet of a between Gale and interim Sheriff Elias Diggins where Diggins told him “they want a trophy to hang on the wall.”
Diggins, who testified as part of Gale’s defense, said he did not know the phone call was being recorded.
The case hinges on Gale’s word versus the who said Gale gave orders to let the captain leave through the public entrance of a courtroom without going through normal jail release procedures.
On Friday, Gale said he would have deferred to the internal affairs sergeant because he was not in charge in the courtroom. Plus, he had no reason to lie about the situation.
“Look, this isn’t the Lindbergh baby kidnapping,” Gale said. “This is not a major event in the sheriff’s department. If anything, this would be an erroneous release. If I had screwed up or made a mistake, I would own it. The one thing you don’t want to do is lie.”
Noelle Phillips: 303-954-1661
