Denver’s tab grows in probe

City will pay a law firm $200 an hour to investigate Deputy Police Chief Murray.

Denver will pay $200 per hour for a law firm to investigate allegations against the police department’s Deputy Chief Matt Murray, according to documents obtained by The Denver Post.

Stephanie O’Malley, the Department of Safety executive director, chose the law firm Flynn Investigations Group, which also does business as Employment Matters, this month after questions were raised about Murray’s handling of an internal affairs case and his response to an open records request. The firm already was part of a roster of outside law firms the city keeps on contract to help with legal issues, said Daelene Mix, a safety department spokeswoman.

National law enforcement experts recommend that departments sign a memorandum of understanding with external investigators to outline the parameters of an investigation. But no formal memorandum has been signed with Flynn Investigations.

However, some agreements appear to have been established between Flynn Investigations and the city in an e-mail between the firm and the city attorney’s office.

Independent monitor Nick Mitchell will be involved and will make recommendations as to how the investigation is conducted, according to the e-mail obtained through an open records request. The monitor must be given enough notice to attend investigative interviews and must be kept up to date on the investigation’s progress, the e-mail said.

Also, the e-mail asks Flynn Investigations to hold off its probe into whether Murray improperly withheld a document that was subject to the state’s open records laws. The Denver District Attorney’s Office is investigating that as a criminal case.

O’Malley hired Flynn to investigate Murray this month after questions were raised about how the police department reacted to a letter from former District Attorney Mitch Morrissey that criticized Murray’s handling of an internal investigation into a sexual assault allegation against a former officer.

Morrissey sent the letter in May, saying Murray ignored a longstanding policy for police to consult with an on-call prosecutor during serious investigations and then had a cavalier attitude when confronted about the situation.

However, the letter remained a secret until January when the Denver Police Protective Association sent an open records request to the safety department asking for a copy of it.

The safety department twice denied the police union’s request after Murray told the department’s records coordinator he did not have it. The letter became public after it was reported by the media.