GREELEY— The district attorney for the 19th Judicial District said it is not acceptable that his office was notified of a Colorado Bureau of Investigation agent’s credibility issue roughly five months after an internal investigation was completed.
“It certainly raises concerns about why it took five months for us to be notified. And all those questions need to be answered,” said District Attorney Michael Rourke, whose district covers Weld County.
Denver7 Investigates previously reported that CBI Agent Doug Pearson accidentally activated his body-worn camera while waiting for a SWAT team to arrive at a scene on Feb. 14, and the camera captured him using a racial slur. Informed sources told Denver7 that Pearson had received preferential treatment due to a close friendship with CBI Director Chris Schaefer.
Denver7 Investigates
CBI insiders allege agent received leniency after racial slur captured on camera
"Anyone else, in my opinion, that did what he did that day would no longer be working at the CBI today," one source, who spoke to Denver7 Investigates in silhouette said back in October, adding that Pearson’s exact punishment remains unclear to them and others. "I will tell you what didn't happen — what didn't happen is he was not suspended. He kept working. He's still actively involved in cases.”
Denver7 Investigates has since learned that Pearson was reassigned and has taken a desk job with the Colorado Information Analysis Center.
A report detailing CBI’s internal investigation into the incident is dated April 29. However, written notifications — often referred to as Brady letters — were sent to all Colorado district attorneys on Oct. 15, nearly two weeks after Denver7 Investigates’ first report.
The letters note that Pearson may have a credibility issue if called to testify in court.
“Whether it was a mistake on his part or not, he chose to use that word when he is representing the state of Colorado as a law enforcement officer, and it's completely unacceptable,” Rourke said.
Denver7 obtained all 22 of the letters sent to the DA offices. Each reads the same, but were addressed to the individual district attorneys. Below is a copy of one of them.
Rourke was one of three district attorneys to notify Colorado Peace Officers Standards and Training (POST) of the letter. He said after learning of the credibility issue, he discovered two active cases in his district where Pearson could testify.
“I had already seen your story," he said in our interview. "We had already made an office determination internally that this was information we needed to disclose. I wasn't going to wait for this notification.”
Colorado law requires law enforcement agencies to notify district attorney offices if one of their officers has a credibility concern, including a “demonstrated bias based on race, religion, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability, national origin or any other protected class.” The law also states that notification must be “prompt.”
“You can't hide in secrecy. We took an oath to the constitution of the United States and the State of Colorado. We represent the people of Colorado. The people have questions that need to be answered,” Rourke said.
Rourke is also not the only current or former district attorney questioning the notification process by CBI leadership.
Earlier this month, Denver7 Investigates spoke with former Boulder District Attorney Stan Garnett and 23rd Judicial District Attorney-elect George Brauchler. Brauchler also served two terms as DA in the 18th Judicial District.
Both said the notification timeline was concerning.
“Why they didn't release this letter until two weeks after your story, I don't know, but it doesn't look good,” Garnett said.
“I can't imagine anything that would take five months that could be defined as prompt in this circumstance,” Brauchler said. “If an investigation is completed and they have come to a conclusion, prompt might be five hours, or five days, but it cannot be five months.”
You can watch our interview with DA Garnett and DA-elect Brauchler in the video below.
Denver7 Investigates also reported that CBI has asked for a third-party review into its handling of this incident.
Sources say that review will focus on the investigation after discovering the racial slur on camera and on the allegations that Pearson received preferential treatment due to his friendship with the director.
A CBI spokesperson said that Pearson has testified in court at least once since the incident. Earlier this month, he testified in Texas regarding a case involving motorcycle gangs. The spokesman said that the district attorney in that case was notified about the letters sent to Colorado DAs.
Denver7 Investigates first reported on the investigation into Pearson’s use of the racial slur on Oct. 2. Watch that report below.
After Denver7 Investigates’ initial story, both Schaefer and Colorado Department of Public Safety Director Stan Hilkey sent emails to staff to address the situation. Part of Schaefer’s email noted, “the behavior in question was addressed swiftly and appropriately.” Hilkey stated that “there’s no excuse for this behavior.”
A statement from Schaefer after Denver7 Investigates' first story reads that “the agent was investigated, the finding sustained and discipline issued.” The full statement is below.
