Denver officers won’t be charged in beating case

By The AP
Saturday, February 9, 2013

DENVER — A 23-year-old man who was beaten by three Denver police officers after he questioned their authority to search the trunk of his car says the Justice Department has decided not to charge any of the officers with civil-rights violations stemming from the case.

Alexander Landau tells The Denver Post (http://bit.ly/WX2Npw ) that representatives of the department and the FBI told him Friday there was insufficient evidence to bring federal charges.

Landau sued the city in 2011, saying Cpl. Randy Murr and officers Ricky Nixon and Tiffany Middleton tried to cover up the January 2009 beating. The lawsuit also accused the officers of calling Landau, who is African-American, a racial epithet during a traffic stop.

Police said Landau reached for Middleton’s gun during the stop.

The federal lawsuit ended in 2011 with a $795,000 settlement.