Denver City Council
approved a $60,000 payment divided between two plaintiffs and their attorneys
Monday in a lawsuit with the Denver Police Department alleging police
misconduct.
The council adopted
the resolution unanimously. Councilmen Albus Brooks and Chris Herndon were not
in attendance.
Ashford Wortham and
Cornelius Campbell filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in February 2011.
The men, both black, alleged that three police officers — Sgt. Perry Speelman
and officers Jesse Campion and Tab Davis — made a racially motivated traffic
stop on Feb. 13, 2009 .
The lawsuit alleges
that police pulled Wortham over about11 p.m. while Campbell ate dinner in the
passenger seat. They "were subjected to a barrage of blatantly racist
comments, forcibly removed from their car, patted down without reasonable
suspicion, and forced to sit without proper clothing on the sidewalk for 45
minutes," according to the lawsuit.
Wortham was cited
with failure to wear a seat belt, sign his insurance/registration and running a
red light. Denver County Judge Aileen Ortiz-White ruled that the officers
lacked probable cause for the stop and dismissed the charges.
According to the
lawsuit, Ortiz-White said the "police conduct was extreme, profane and
racially motivated."
The payout gives
$21,100 to Wortham, $13,900 to Campbell and $25,000 to attorney Killmer, Lane
& Newman, LLP .
Monday marked the
first meeting Councilwoman Mary Beth Susman presided over as council president — unanimously elected by
the city council members at the beginning of the meeting.