Denver District Attorney Beth McCann criticized the Denver Police Department’s chief and a deputy chief over their handling of an open records request, but she declined to file criminal charges against them for failing to provide a copy of a letter to the police union.
In a Thursday afternoon announcement, McCann said Chief Robert White and Deputy Chief Matt Murray had carelessly handled an open records request from the police union.
“The CORA requests in question were handled carelessly by DPD, particularly by Chief White and Deputy Chief Murray,” McCann said in a statement. “The public has the right to expect a quick and thoughtful response to CORA requests by city officials, particularly by its police leadership.”
McCann announced the decision after she met with the Denver Police Protective Association, the police union that had requested and been denied documents by the department. The police union had filed complaints with the district attorney’s office and the Denver independent monitor.
Murray declined to comment on the district attorney’s decision, saying it would be inappropriate because an administrative investigation into his actions is ongoing.
The Denver Police Protective Association’s board of directors, which asked for the investigation, said it was disappointed in McCann’s decision.
“What bothers me about the McCann decision is she blames this on the process and not on the people involved,” said Brian O’Neill, a police union board member. “This is not about the process. This is about Chief White and Deputy Chief Murray. This is about two people who lack integrity, personal responsibility and accountability.”
A violation of the Colorado Open Records Act is a misdemeanor punishable by a maximum sentence of a $100 fine and 90 days in the county jail.
In her statement, McCann called on the city’s Department of Safety and its police department to improve response to open records requests.
“I urge the leadership of the Denver Department of Safety and the Denver Police Department to examine and improve the process for responses to CORA requests,” the statement said. “These requests provide the public with important access to government documents. Immediate and thorough responses are critical to provide transparency and accountability in government operations.”
Daelene Mix, a safety department spokeswoman, said the city attorney and mayor have ordered a review of every department’s handling of open records requests. She did not know if that review was connected to the police department’s incident.
Now that the criminal investigation is complete, an independent, third-party investigation into Murray’s handling of an internal affairs investigation in May 2015 will kick into gear, Mix said.
The police union had filed an open records request seeking a copy of a letter from former District Attorney Mitch Morrissey to Chief White that raised questions about Murray’s handling of an internal investigation into a sexual assault complaint against a former officer and a female accomplice.
Murray ignored a long-standing protocol for communication between the police department and the district attorney’s office, and because of his actions an innocent woman was arrested and subjected to ridicule and public embarrassment, Morrissey’s letter said.
Morrissey also accused Murray of having “a cavalier attitude” when Morrissey later tried to discuss what had happened.
The union twice sent an open records request to Denver’s Department of Safety asking for the letters, and both times was told that no such record existed. But the letter later was obtained from the DA’s office by Denver7 Investigates.
An email between Murray and the safety department’s records coordinator shows that Murray had said, “I have no records responsive to this request.”
The internal investigation involved former officer Davin Munk, who resigned amid an investigation into whether he had used his uniform and gun during a sexual encounter. He had been arrested on a sexual assault charge along with the female accomplice, but charges against both were dropped. But the police department already had issued news releases about the arrests.
Murray has said he was out of town on a camping trip when the woman was arrested and that he did not make any decisions related to the investigation. However, phone records show Murray was in contact with a prosecutor and an internal affairs captain throughout the day of the woman’s arrest.
Stephanie O’Malley, executive director of the safety department, hired Flynn Investigations Group to conduct that investigation under the oversight of independent monitor Nick Mitchell.