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Testimony Wraps In Turney Suspension Hearing
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
October 29, 2004

DENVER, COLORADO--Testimony wrapped up Friday in the two-week long Civil Service Commission hearing for the Denver Police officer who shot and killed 15-year-old Paul Childs III.

Officer James Turney is appealing a 10-month suspension without pay and an order that he never be allowed to return to patrolling streets. City Safety Manager Al McCabe issued the suspension in April, claiming that Turney violated police "use of force" policy when he shot Childs at the family's front door on July 5, 2003. Turney also allegedly threatened his former mother-in-law by phone the day before he shot Childs.

Retired Colorado Court of Appeals Judge John Criswell heard testimony that Childs, who had epilepsy and mental retardation, was following his mother around the home carrying a kitchen knife on the afternoon of July 5. Childs' sister called 911, telling the dispatcher that her brother was threatening to stab their mother with the knife.

Four officers arrived on at the Childs' home, including Turney, and ordered the family and guests to leave the house. Childs then came to the front door, still clutching the knife at about chest level. He failed to drop the knife when officers ordered him to do so. Turney, who was holding a metal security door open with his foot, shot Childs four times from a distance of between three and 4 1/2 feet away.

In her testimony Monday, Ashley Childs, 17, said she called the police because she thought they would come and try to calm her brother, who may have been wanting attention. Ashley said she thought the officers might try to wrestle with her brother to get the knife away, like she had seen them do on TV cop shows, but that she did not think they would shoot him.

"Do you call the police when your brother wants attention?" Turney's lawyer, Doug Jewell, asked Ashley.

"Yeah," she responded.

Two police experts gave conflicting testimony on Monday over whether Turney violated department policy in the incident. One said Turney should have backed away from Childs, closed the teen behind the door, and taken cover behind a bush or barrier. Another said Turney did exactly what he was trained to do, and that closing the door would have been the wrong thing to do.

On Tuesday, the three other officers who were on the scene backed up Turney's statements, saying they believed Childs presented an immediate danger. One testified that he had drawn his Taser, and thought he had pulled the trigger when Turney's gun fired.

Mayor John Hickenlooper and Police Chief Gerry Whitman testified Wednesday that they did not cut a deal with the Childs family to discipline Turney in order to settle a lawsuit the family planned to file against the city. Turney's lawyers had tried to establish that an agreement had been made leading to the suspension. Both Hickenlooper and Whitman said they were not involved in the settlement conversations, which resulted in the Childs family receiving a $1.325 million settlement and agreements to make changes within the police department. Whitman had actually recommended a 20 day suspension for Turney.

According to the Denver Post, Judge Criswell ordered both sides to write their closing arguments and present them to him by December 6.

Child's death was the second fatal shooting by Turney since he joined the department in 1998. On January 30, 2002, he shot and killed 18-year-old Gregory Smith Jr., in the home of Smith's mother. Turney shot the partially-deaf Smith after the teen failed to follow orders to drop a pocket knife.

Turney was cleared of criminal wrongdoing in both cases.

Related:
"Experts split on Turney" (Rocky Mountain News)
"911 tape trips up Childs' sister" (Rocky Mountain News)
"Cops say shooting of teen was justified" (Denver Post)
"Mayor testifies in appeal of Turney discipline" (Denver Post)
"Safety manager: Cop made 'tactical errors'" (Rocky Mountain News)
"The Death of Paul Childs III" (Inclusion Daily Express Archives)

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