Who is the Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition?

Our mission is to reverse the trend of mass incarceration in Colorado. We are a coalition of nearly 7,000 individual members and over 100 faith and community organizations who have united to stop perpetual prison expansion in Colorado through policy and sentence reform.

Our chief areas of interest include drug policy reform, women in prison, racial injustice, the impact of incarceration on children and families, the problems associated with re-entry and stopping the practice of using private prisons in our state.

If you would like to be involved please go to our website and become a member.


Monday, November 21, 2011

Lawyer accuses Denver cops of lying to protect themselves

The Denver Post

Ex-Denver police officer Charles Porter, who was fired for stomping a 16 year-old boy, said Monday that he didn't know how the teen was hurt and that he told another cop to report any force used in the arrest.
Nathan Chambers, Porter's lawyer, said that the second officer, Cameron Moerman, and another, Luis Rivera, lied when they blamed Porter for beating the teen.
Porter, 44, appeared before a three-member Civil Service hearing panel to appeal his termination by former Safety Manager Al LaCabe.
LaCabe fired all three of the officers in 2010, believing they all beat Juan Vasquez after a foot chase through a north Denver alley in April, 2008.
A jury acquitted Porter, who was the only one charged with a crime in the incident. Denver paid Vasquez, whose kidneys and liver were damaged, $885,000 to settle a civil suit in the case.
Vasquez, who had been drinking, ran when Moerman and another officer pulled to the curb nearby.
Porter testified that he fell behind his partners in the chase and that by the time he caught up with Vasquez, the teen was handcuffed and laying on his stomach. The boy was complaining that he couldn't breathe.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Based on the past performance of this CS panel, he will be reinstated.