Post by WaTcHeR on Apr 11, 2006 13:20:02 GMT -5
04/11/2006 - Three Westminster officers charged with using excessive force will stand trial rather than be allowed to accept a plea deal that an Adams County district judge said was too soft.
Chief Judge Harlan Bockman rejected the agreement, calling it "a travesty" because it would allow the officers to return to their jobs. On Monday he ordered a five-day jury trial to begin Sept. 11.
The lawyer for the alleged victim said Monday that he would ask the judge to remove the Adams County district attorney's office from the case because it had shown it was not serious about prosecuting.
The district attorney's office defended the plea deal as reasonable, considering the officers' lack of criminal records and the circumstances of the case.
Westminster officers Mark Toth, Jason Poppenger and Norman Haubert were charged with third-degree assault, first-degree official misconduct and making false reports after an Adams County grand jury reviewed their case.
A fourth officer, Chris Pyler, was charged with the lesser of those three misdemeanor charges - first- degree official misconduct and making a false report.
The charges stemmed from the officers' Aug. 27 high-speed chase of Scott Danielson, who allegedly hit another car in Broomfield before leading officers on a chase through Westminster and into Federal Heights.
Officers arrested Danielson after deploying stop sticks and used force to bring him into custody. Two Federal Heights officers who responded to the scene reported the Westminster officers, saying they used excessive force.
Toth was fired.
Poppenger and Haubert were disciplined and given desk jobs, pending the outcome of their criminal cases.
A grand jury recommended charges for the officers in November.
On Friday, prosecutor Tom Quammen and defense attorney Nathan Chambers presented a plea deal, which they had agreed upon, to Judge Bockman, who promptly rejected it.
"This is a total travesty," Bockman said Friday, adding that he had read the grand jury transcript and would not accept a deal that allowed the officers back on the streets.
By allowing the officers to plead guilty to slightly lesser charges, they still could have been sent to jail for up to a year and fined up to $1,000. However, the deal would have let them keep their state police officer certifications, and Westminster likely would have put them back on duty, state and city officials said Monday.
If convicted of third-degree assault, the officers face up to two years in jail, a fine of up to $5,000 and a guaranteed revocation of their peace officer certification, county and state officials said.
Danielson's attorney, David Lane, said Monday that the prosecution's offer shows that the district attorney's office is not interested in bringing the officers to justice.
"Today, I'm going to be mailing off to Adams County District Court a motion filed by the victim, Scott Danielson, for a special prosecutor, on the grounds that obviously the prosecutors that are on the case are going to roll over at trial based on the deal that they offered these cops that so outraged the judge that he wouldn't accept the deal," Lane said.
Prosecutors took the charges very seriously, said Michael Goodbee, assistant district attorney.
"We stand by our initial, difficult decision to have a grand jury review this. And we stand by the difficult decision to extend a reasonable offer in the case," he said.
Chief Judge Harlan Bockman rejected the agreement, calling it "a travesty" because it would allow the officers to return to their jobs. On Monday he ordered a five-day jury trial to begin Sept. 11.
The lawyer for the alleged victim said Monday that he would ask the judge to remove the Adams County district attorney's office from the case because it had shown it was not serious about prosecuting.
The district attorney's office defended the plea deal as reasonable, considering the officers' lack of criminal records and the circumstances of the case.
Westminster officers Mark Toth, Jason Poppenger and Norman Haubert were charged with third-degree assault, first-degree official misconduct and making false reports after an Adams County grand jury reviewed their case.
A fourth officer, Chris Pyler, was charged with the lesser of those three misdemeanor charges - first- degree official misconduct and making a false report.
The charges stemmed from the officers' Aug. 27 high-speed chase of Scott Danielson, who allegedly hit another car in Broomfield before leading officers on a chase through Westminster and into Federal Heights.
Officers arrested Danielson after deploying stop sticks and used force to bring him into custody. Two Federal Heights officers who responded to the scene reported the Westminster officers, saying they used excessive force.
Toth was fired.
Poppenger and Haubert were disciplined and given desk jobs, pending the outcome of their criminal cases.
A grand jury recommended charges for the officers in November.
On Friday, prosecutor Tom Quammen and defense attorney Nathan Chambers presented a plea deal, which they had agreed upon, to Judge Bockman, who promptly rejected it.
"This is a total travesty," Bockman said Friday, adding that he had read the grand jury transcript and would not accept a deal that allowed the officers back on the streets.
By allowing the officers to plead guilty to slightly lesser charges, they still could have been sent to jail for up to a year and fined up to $1,000. However, the deal would have let them keep their state police officer certifications, and Westminster likely would have put them back on duty, state and city officials said Monday.
If convicted of third-degree assault, the officers face up to two years in jail, a fine of up to $5,000 and a guaranteed revocation of their peace officer certification, county and state officials said.
Danielson's attorney, David Lane, said Monday that the prosecution's offer shows that the district attorney's office is not interested in bringing the officers to justice.
"Today, I'm going to be mailing off to Adams County District Court a motion filed by the victim, Scott Danielson, for a special prosecutor, on the grounds that obviously the prosecutors that are on the case are going to roll over at trial based on the deal that they offered these cops that so outraged the judge that he wouldn't accept the deal," Lane said.
Prosecutors took the charges very seriously, said Michael Goodbee, assistant district attorney.
"We stand by our initial, difficult decision to have a grand jury review this. And we stand by the difficult decision to extend a reasonable offer in the case," he said.