$24 Million Verdict Against Detective Over Bad Arrest

[00:00:00]Welcome once again to Laytoe's Law.

[00:00:02]Here's Steve Laytoe.

[00:00:04]>> Jason tipped me off to a story out of Colorado and this is a big one. Arrest leads to $24 million civil rights verdict against a former Parker detective. We're talking about things happening in Colorado. Ben Marcus wrote this for cpr.org.

[00:00:19]In May of 2022, the man flew from his home in New Jersey to Colorado to help his son who was involved in a crime.

[00:00:30]To his surprise, as he got off the plane at Denver International, he was greeted by a group of officers and was arrested for accessory to murder and tampering with evidence.

[00:00:41]One of the officers present at the airport was a former Parker detective who signed a sworn affidavit for his arrest. As a result of this, he lost his job in the financial industry because of the charges which were eventually dropped. His attorney say the case effectively ended his career in the field. So, he filed a lawsuit against the detective in state court and on Monday was awarded $24 million in damages from a jury.

[00:01:12]His attorneys believe it's the largest civil rights verdict of its kind in Colorado history. Now comes the hard part, of course, collecting. Judgment, one thing, collecting is another.

[00:01:20]It's unclear if or when the man will see any of that money. His attorney said in an interview they believe that the town of Parker is fully responsible for paying the verdict, but there could be appeals for the next few years. Now, a spokesperson for the town said, "While the town is disappointed with the verdict, we respect the judicial process. However, however, we believe the evidence presented in the case warranted a different outcome.

[00:01:48]Staff is thoroughly reviewing the trial and verdict to evaluate all available options, including the potential for an appeal. The town will ensure compliance with all the binding court orders while conducting its review.

[00:01:58]Now, here's what happened. Back in February of 2022, the man got a phone call from his son saying he'd been involved in a shooting at his residence.

[00:02:10]So, this man's attorneys said that the detective who was investigating the case was upset that this man got his son an attorney.

[00:02:23]And so, you have to understand you're entitled to an attorney if you can't afford one, if you can afford one, you get one. But, sometimes the police are hoping you don't get one.

[00:02:31]So, when they find out that you've got one, they're like, "Oh, that throws a monkey wrench in our plans." And apparently that looks like that upset somebody.

[00:02:41]This is the attorney speaking here.

[00:02:43]She was angry that he hired his son a lawyer and asked to have the lawyer involved in questioning, which was perfectly legal and it was his right to do.

[00:02:52]And [clears throat] she decided to retaliate and swore out a false affidavit and pushed for a false criminal case against an innocent man and it ruined his career and dragged his name through the mud, ruining his reputation. So, you have to understand because of his job we'll we'll get there in a second. According to the civil complaint, the arrest affidavit relied on a witness who claimed that the man told his son to hide something, evidence, and his attorney said the evidence was not hidden because officers found it immediately and that the witness had serious credibility issues. The only evidence that connected him to doing anything wrong was her word and the physical evidence did not support it, says one of his attorneys.

[00:03:38]What the detective did was cherry-pick which parts of her inconsistent statement she wanted to put together to craft a false narrative about our client. So, charges against this man were dropped, but the damage was done because the charges triggered reporting requirements tied to his FINRA license, which is a financial work license, damaging his ability to continue working in the financial industry.

[00:04:03]And that is not expungable. So, he can never work in the same industry as he's working because that will forever be on his FINRA license. So, in other words, doesn't matter what Colorado does. It's now in another system where it cannot be removed. Man's attorneys sued the detective using a law enforcement accountability law passed in Colorado back in 2020.

[00:04:27]Uh last year, a Denver jury awarded $19 million to six bystanders injured when a former Denver police officer fired into a crowd.

[00:04:36]Case was initially brought partly under Colorado's 2020 police accountability law, but those claims were dismissed before trial, and the case proceeded to trial only on battery claims.

[00:04:46]Attorneys in that case have argued that Denver is responsible for paying the award. Now, here, the detective in question retired from the police department and in a social media post, the department praised her service saying, "This detective retired from the Parker Police Department in 2024. And in a social media post, the department praised her service. She earned a distinguished service cross for her response in rescuing a victim targeted by gunfire. She was served a meritorious service award, seven chiefs unit commendations, four letters of recognition, three chiefs commendations, and a department commendation throughout her 26-year career." That was on a Facebook post. In a statement, a spokesperson for the 23rd Judicial District, which includes this county, said they're making disclosures in cases where that detective was involved. So, after learning of the May 11th, 2026 civil verdict against the former detective, the District Attorney's Office for the 23rd Judicial District has begun the process of disclosing that verdict in cases where the former detective had been endorsed as a witness.

[00:05:53]The District Attorney's office is also reviewing whether further disclosures should be made to fulfill our Brady obligations. So, Brady obligations require prosecutors to disclose evidence that may be favorable to defense including evidence that goes to credibility of a prosecution witness.

[00:06:08]So, this case can now be used in cases where this detective is going to testify.

[00:06:15]Or if she has testified.

[00:06:17]So, it turns out there's another case where two charges were dismissed because of these Brady violations.

[00:06:26]So, much of her career uh Parker cases were handled by prosecutors in the 18th Judicial District before Douglas County became part of the new 23rd Judicial District.

[00:06:35]A spokesperson with the 18th Judicial District did not immediately respond to a question about whether the office is making similar disclosures. So, that's always one of the questions we're going to get back to is you have a judgment against somebody. And I've gotten judgments against people who are not collectible.

[00:06:52]And so, if you get a judgment against an individual purely an individual and there's no way to connect it to somebody else like their supervisor or who they work for or whatever, um you got to chase someone around and see if they pay you.

[00:07:05]And I've gotten very large judgments against companies that just said, "Ah, we'll go belly up. Go bankrupt." And you chase them in the bankruptcy court and see if you can squeeze some money out of them. So, apparently, it looks like they got a judgment against the detective.

[00:07:19]And the question is, can they collect the money from her?

[00:07:23]Or can they then go after who she worked for at the time that became a thing? And I'm not sure because it's not really addressed here quite as clearly as I would like, but it does say an arrest leads to $24 million civil rights verdict against a former detective.

[00:07:42]And um the city says they're reviewing it, but they're not sure if they're going to appeal it, pay it, or what's going on there. And there appears to be some question about whether or not they're going to say it's not even on us. It's actually on her, and she no longer works for us. So, we'll see what happens, but again, um I always tell people that if you want to win a case, you've got to have liability and damages, okay? And you have to have them both. So, they're multiplied together.

[00:08:10]If either one is zero, you get nothing.

[00:08:13]However, all you get at the end is a judgment if you win.

[00:08:18]And you get a judgment, and the judgment is a piece of paper saying, "Yes, this person owes you money. Here's how much."

[00:08:24]And now, I've had people tell me, "Steve, if someone got a judgment against me, I just wouldn't pay it."

[00:08:30]Well, how big is the judgment?

[00:08:32]$10,000. Okay, you understand that they can chase you for years, right?

[00:08:38]Not forever, but for years, depends on what state you're in.

[00:08:40]And um next 2, 3, 4, 5 years, you're not going to have $10,000?

[00:08:45]Are you working?

[00:08:46]Do you have bank accounts? Do you have any assets other than where you live?

[00:08:49]That kind of thing? Because $10,000 is I mean, don't get me wrong, there are people out there who don't have it, couldn't scrape it up, and probably never will have it.

[00:08:57]But if you're working, they can garnish your wages.

[00:09:01]Get tax returns? They can garnish those, too. And so, there are ways to get people to pay money, but where it happens, you know, where it becomes a problem is $24 million. I'm sure you remember the whole Nicole Brown Simpson lawsuit against O.J.

[00:09:18]And the family got a very large verdict against him.

[00:09:21]And for years was chasing him around trying to get the money out of him.

[00:09:25]Apparently, they got some money, but they didn't get it all, you know? So, the amazing part here is that this happened in the first place.

[00:09:35]And from what I've seen, it looks like this man in New Jersey, when he got the phone call from his son, said, "Hey, I'm going to get you an attorney."

[00:09:47]Got him an attorney. The attorney probably advised the kid to keep his mouth shut.

[00:09:52]And apparently, somebody in the law enforcement over there didn't like that.

[00:09:58]And that was at least the allegation.

[00:10:00]And a jury said, "Yeah."

[00:10:03]And when this guy gets arrested, his license suddenly becomes jeopardized. And even though the charges are dropped, you can remove it from the Colorado system, but you can't remove it from that financial system where he's licensed. So, it's a wild case. A bunch of facts here that might not happen to anybody else, but it happened to this guy. So, Jason, thanks for sending it from cpr.org. Ben Marcus wrote it. Arrest leads to $24 million civil rights verdict against a former Parker detective. Questions, your comments, put them below. Let's talk to you later. Bye-bye.

[00:10:38]>> Thank you for watching Lato's Law.

[00:10:40]>> I've never faked a sarcasm.