Legal
Colorado ACLU Cases

Legal Department Docket, 2002-Present

Case Name: City of Colorado Springs v. American Civil Liberties Union
Case Number: 06-cv-2053, District Court, El Paso County, Colorado
ACLU Case Number: 2006-07

Description: The ACLU received a serious complaint—corroborated by police reports—that a Colorado Springs police officer repeatedly bashed an unresisting African American suspect in the head with a heavy metal flashlight. To investigate further, ACLU Legal Department staff made a routine request for additional documents from the Colorado Springs Police Department (CSPD), including the records of an internal investigation into the police officer’s conduct. The CSPD replied that, as a matter of policy, it never released internal affairs documents. The ACLU then forwarded a copy of Judge Lemon’s December, 2005, ruling in Nash v. Whitman, which held that a similar policy of the Denver Police Department violated the Colorado open records laws.

The City of Colorado Springs then filed suit against the ACLU, asking the court for a declaratory judgment that it was not obligated to disclose the requested documents. The ACLU filed a counterclaim, asking the court to order disclosure pursuant to the Colorado Criminal Justice Records Act.

After a hearing, the district court ruled in favor of the ACLU, holding that Colorado Springs was obligated to disclose the records of the internal investigation into the officer’s on-the-job conduct.

Issues: Open government; police practices

ACLU of Colorado Attorneys: Steven Zansberg, Brandee Caswell, Mark Silverstein, Taylor Pendergrass

Links to Selected Documents:

"Colorado Springs Sues ACLU For Over Request For Public Records," ACLU News Release, June 13, 2006

Complaint filed by Colorado Springs, June 12, 2006

ACLU Answer and Counterclaim, July 13, 2006

ACLU Brief, filed November 28, 2006

Court’s ruling, February 5, 2007

Internal Affairs Investigation Documents
These documents were obtained by the ACLU of Colorado after the El Paso County District Court ordered the City of Colorado Springs to disclose the Internal Affairs (“IA”) investigation file relating to the beating of Delvikio Faulkner by then CSPD officer Kenneth Hardy.

..........Officer Hardy’s incident report of July 2, 2005

..........Officer Andrews’ incident report of July 3, 2005 (Officer ...........Hardy’s partner)

..........IA interview of Officer Andrews on July 20, 2005

..........IA interview of Officer Hardy on August 17, 2005

..........IA Findings of November 15, 2005

 

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