It’s a bewilderingly conclusion to an ugly clash at the Denver Coliseum. An off-duty prisons officer who escalated a confrontation between hostile motorcycle clubs into a gunfight that left one dead and three others struck by bullets will not face charges.
Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey’s office has concluded that “there is no likelihood of a conviction” — of anyone.
Denver juries must be awfully understanding these days if they’d give a pass to that level of mayhem.
Derrick Duran, the corrections employee, fired the first shot in the fatal confrontation on Jan. 30. That bullet left one man injured. Duran also fired the third shot in a quick exchange of gunfire. His second bullet killed Victor Mendoza.
And yet because of the swirling confusion and the fact that Mendoza also fired a shot that grazed Duran before striking someone else, Duran will escape any charges. He claims he used his weapon in self-defense in the brawl between the Iron Order and Mongols.
It is obvious why Duran’s claim of self-defense might protect him from a murder charge, since his fatal shot followed Mendoza’s shot at him. But even after a highly informative press conference by Denver police Cmdr. Ron Saunier, it is still unclear why Duran’s initial shot doesn’t warrant a charge.
Maybe the release of the investigation’s documents and video evidence, which police have promised, will clarify matters.
Meanwhile, in another bewildering development, Duran is back on duty at the Department of Corrections after first being put on administrative leave. Really? The man fired the first shot in what amounted to a gang fight at a public venue. He displayed exactly the sort of hair-trigger mentality you don’t want at play in a law enforcement setting.
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