By Jacob Richards
On Saturday June 22, District Attorney Dan Rubinstein issued his decision not to charge Mesa County Sheriff deputies Hand and Peterson with a crime in a use of force incident against a teenager at Central High School, which occurred on April 24.
Later the same day, Mesa County Sheriff Todd Rowell issued a letter detailing the internal consequences for the deputies: ten days of unpaid leave for Philip Peterson and five days for Michael Hand. Both deputies, will have to take additional trainings related to use of force, and both will be reassigned—no longer serving as School Resource Officers.
The decision to not charge the deputies largely rests with Peterson’s beliefs. Peterson believed that the high schooler’s back talk constituted disorderly conduct. (Note, that not once in the 20 minutes of post incident bodycam footage does Peterson mention ‘disorderly conduct’).
The justification for the use of force similarly rests on Peterson’s belief that the student might possibly have a weapon in his pockets. (Note, not once in the 20 minutes of post incident video does Peterson mention this fear of a weapon). The student is never searched, and the student even asks twice “you’re not going to take anything out of my pockets?” Peterson responds, “Nope.” The whole justification of use of force, hinged on a potential ‘weapon,’ that the deputies never even searched him for? Additionally, the way Peterson initiated the use of force runs counter to his stated belief of a potential weapon, and his statement. Shoving the student from behind is not “quickly [closing] the distance between us” as he states in a written statement, and it goes against training. Hand and Peterson’s written statements are not dated, or time stamped, so we have no idea how long after the incident they were written down. (Note, the shove from behind is never dealt with in either the CIRT investigation or the MCSO’s internal investigation).
Many observers thought that Colorado’s ban on using chokeholds would come into play. The law seems straight forward enough: “A peace officer is prohibited from using a chokehold upon another person.” But Rubenstein hangs his hat on a creative interpterion of the word ‘method.’ “The neck was not targeted as method of compliance,” Rubinstein states in his letter. The definition uses ‘method’ to mean, any means by which pressure is applied to the neck. It was intended to cover variety of methods of applying pressure—forearm, chokehold, strangulation with a garrot or kneeling on someone’s neck. The law is not concerned if the chokehold was part of a ‘method’ or system of gaining control. he DA reads intent into the law where it doesn’t exist.
The DA’s letter casts doubt on the victim and their guardian, speculating that their stories had changed slightly because of a civil suit being filed. Rubenstein doesn’t cast the same doubts on Peterson for coming up with the crucial ‘weapon’ and the ‘disorderly conduct,’ after his initial statements and actions, on body camera, to the contrary. Peterson’s story is ever changing across three recantations.
“I believe there is not a clear charge to prosecute,” stated Rubinstein’s letter, “I do not believe that I have a reasonable likelihood of conviction at any trial in this matter.” The letter also notes that the officers, if found guilty, would most likely get deferred judgement or diversion, and “thus, whatever the response that we would offer, is not likely to satisfy the community’s need for a response.”
But Sheriff Rowell’s ‘consequences’ certainly didn’t satisfy the community either.
“We are holding children who do not yet have fully developed brains more accountable for their actions than we do adults who are fully capable of making good decisions,” said an anonymous parent of a Central High School student. The lack of real consequences, “leaves me feeling bitter and resentful of those in authority.”
The Revolutionist originally broke this story on the April 25 on our website. Find more details on our website http://therevolutionistgj.org.
The District Attorney’s Letter, and documents related to the investigations into the use of force at Central High School can be found, here. All 368 pages of it.
“Mesa County Sheriff’s Office is releasing the entirety of the Internal Investigation.” but did they. We are missing Peterson’s 2nd Body Cam video with the child and his guardian, we are missing CHS Crime Camera Redaction 1 of the precipitating incident, and we are missing the second student video which the sheriff’s release has stills from.
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