U.S. to Review Fatal Denver Police Shooting

A grand jury’s decision this week not to indict an officer who killed a Latino man after mistaking his soda can for a gun has outraged this city’s minority community and could lead to a federal civil rights investigation of the Denver Police Department.

The incident was one in a string of deadly shootings by police in black and Latino neighborhoods. Outside Denver police headquarters Friday, protesters shouted, “No justice, no peace, control your police!” while holding signs that read: “A soda pop is not a gun!”

“I believe the Denver Police Department has been violating the civil rights of citizens of this city for over 30 years,” said Kenneth Padilla, attorney for the family of Frank Lobato, the man killed. “They know they can get away with murder, that they will not be prosecuted or held accountable.”

The Justice Department is looking into the case, and Padilla said the family might file a civil suit against the city.

“The FBI and Justice Department will review the findings of the Denver district attorney, and that review will look at potential violations of civil rights,” said Jeff Dorschner, spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office in Denver.

The Lobato shooting occurred July 11 after police responded to a domestic violence call in a west Denver housing project. When they found the front door locked, Officer Ranjan Ford Jr. climbed a ladder and entered the brick row house through a second-floor window. Once inside, he found Lobato, 63, who was not the suspect, lying in bed, watching television. Investigators said Ford mistook the can Lobato was holding for a gun; Lobato was killed by a shot to the chest.

The case reminded residents in this city’s minority neighborhoods of the shooting death of 15-year-old Paul Childs. The developmentally disabled black youth was killed while holding a knife last year.

That incident ignited protests, leading Mayor John W. Hickenlooper to order changes designed to make the Police Department more accountable. The officer who shot Childs was suspended for 10 months.

But the grand jury’s decision Wednesday has made some wonder whether any progress has been made. Critics are especially angry with Dist. Atty. Bill Ritter, who has investigated 38 police shootings since taking office in 1993 and has not filed charges in any of them.

There are questions about why he sent the case to a grand jury, something he had never done.

“There is a saying among lawyers that a prosecutor can get a grand jury to indict a ham sandwich,” Padilla said. “The reason he took this to the grand jury was to avoid his own responsibility. There have been 38 homicides by cops since he has been D.A., and he has prosecuted none of them -- which tells us there is a double-standard of justice, and police are not responsible for their crimes.”

Ritter said he used a grand jury because the case was so controversial that he wanted an independent panel investigating it.

“I thought it was a valuable use of the grand jury, a body of citizens looking at issues and acting as a sounding board,” he said. “In other cases, I felt I could make the call. In this case I wanted the grand jury to see if there was probable cause. I wanted the people of the community to look at the evidence.”

He said that over the years he had been criticized for not sending cases to the grand jury.

“I have not prosecuted an officer in the police shootings I have dealt with because I have not seen a valid case,” said Ritter, who leaves office next month because of term limits. “All my investigations are open, and people are welcome to read the cases and judge for themselves.”

Because of grand jury secrecy rules, most of the information about the Lobato investigation is unavailable.

Denver’s manager of public safety, Al LaCabe, said he would begin a probe to see whether Ford broke departmental rules the night of the shooting.

David Bruno, the attorney representing Ford, said the grand jury heard the evidence, made its decision and that Ritter had little choice but stick with it.

“How can the D.A. ethically charge the officer when he couldn’t meet the lowest burden of proof known to law -- convincing a grand jury beyond a reasonable doubt that a crime occurred?” he asked. “Officer Ford recognizes that this is a tragic event, but given the circumstances presented to him that night, he had no other choice.” Ford is still working on the force, but is not on patrol.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado said that if Ford was using Denver police tactics the night of the incident, those practices need to change.

“This is a case that calls for significant discipline against the officer,” said Mark Silverstein, ACLU legal director. “It’s a civil rights violation to use lethal force in circumstances where lethal force isn’t justified.”

Lobato’s children, who live in Sacramento, released a statement saying their father was murdered in his bed after doing nothing wrong.

“There is no way to bring him back, and that officer and his supervisors are responsible for his death,” they said.

Kelly Lavato, who lives across the street from the victim, said the problem is deeper than one officer. “If you think it can’t be you, you’re sadly mistaken,” he said. “Frank Lobato would have been safer on the streets than at home with his family.”