As we reported last year, then-Manager of Safety Charles Garcia gave Estrada the heave-ho for the "commission of a deceptive act" and "misleading and inaccurate statements" related to the hit-and-run accident that badly injured Laurie Gorham, who was pregnant last December when she was struck. The baby didn't survive.
An eleven-year veteran of the DPD, Estrada reportedly received information about the Gorham case but didn't follow up on it, and then lied to superiors who questioned him on the subject.But Estrada's obfuscations involved a car that ultimately was found not to be involved in the crime against Gorham. As such, the lies didn't impact the case, according to a three-member hearing panel. For that reason, the trio's report, issued in February and on view below in its entirety, upheld a sixteen-day suspension without pay but nixed jettisoning him entirely.
This rationale didn't satisfy current Manager of Safety Alex Martinez, who released a statement pledging to appeal the decision to the Civil Service Commission. It reads:
Although the Office of the Manager of Safety respects the authority of the Civil Service Hearing Officers, we disagree with their ruling in the Estrada case and have asked the City Attorney's Office to appeal the decision. Once again, the hearing officers have misunderstood the nature of deceptive conduct; in this case, the concept of materiality. In this office's view, the conduct was material even if it would not have changed the outcome of the investigation. We do not tolerate deceptive conduct and we will continue to impose appropriate discipline.Martinez's appeal went before the full commission, which consists of five members. And yesterday, as 7News notes, they reversed the panel's decision under the rationale that Estrada's undisputed lying broke a rule in the DPD manual that says officers and the like can't commit a deceptive act "in connection with any investigation or any judicial or administrative proceeding," whether it wound up being material to the case or not. Hence, Estrada will not be returning to his job with the department.
Will wonders never cease.
Continue to see the original Manager of Safety report about the firing of Detective Estrada, followed by the panel's aforementioned February ruling.
More from our News archive: "Ricky Nixon, cop fired over incident at Denver Diner, tied to earlier beating & shooting death."
