Officer charged in assault caught on tape

DENVER - The Denver District Attorney's office has charged Det. Michael Cordova with two counts of second-degree assault, both felonies, after a videotape showed him slamming a man's face into the ground and breaking his teeth during an arrest last April.

The officer broke two of John Heaney's teeth during the arrest.

"John Heaney is pleased that the prosecution is taking seriously what happened to him, that they're not looking at him as the criminal but they realize that he was a victim," said Heaney's attorney Lonn Heymann.

Cordova, who has been with the Denver Police Department for eight years has been suspended without pay.

The 32-year-old detective learned of the pending charges and surrendered himself to the police department Friday morning. He was booked and released on $5,000 bond.

The charges accuse Cordova of intending to cause bodily injury with a deadly weapon or the pavement and causing serious bodily injury.

The charges stem from an arrest on April 4 outside of Coors Field on the opening day of the Colorado Rockies' 2008 season.

The detective was working undercover with the vice-narcotics squad in a scalping sting with Det. James Costigan when they got into an altercation with a man on a bike named John Heaney.

The officers claim Heaney ran a red light on his bicycle at 20th and Blake Streets.

Cordova and Costigan admit they punched, kicked and choked Heaney during the arrest, according to police reports. The officers say they used excessive force because Heaney punched Cordova in the nose. Heaney denies he punched them and also says he did not know they were undercover police officers.

The video, shot by a local sports TV crew, shows Heaney on his stomach on the ground with Cordova and Costigan cuffing him.

The video then shows Cordova lifting up Heaney's head by his hair and slamming it into the ground. On the video, you can hear Heaney's two front teeth break off.

Heaney was charged with second-degree assault on a police officer and faced three years in prison. However, the Denver District Attorney's office dropped all charges against him after watching the video.

Costigan has not been charged.

Cordova faces up to six years in prison if he is convicted of the two charges. Since the investigation began in August, Cordova has been working in a non-line of duty assignment, according to Denver Police.

Police and court records show Cordova and Costigan lied under oath and in reports about what happened during the incident. Because of that, Heaney's attorney says he's disappointed that the District Attorney didn't file perjury charges against the officers.

"Mr. Heaney's not looking to have anybody go to jail, he's not looking for anybody to lose their career, he just wants this not to happen again. He doesn't want people to be prosecuted, he doesn't want people to potentially go to jail based on lies and false statements," said attorney Heymann.

The District Attorney's office said it investigated the allegations but decided not to file perjury charges.

"We couldn't meet the legal requirements to charge for perjury," said Lynn Kimbrough of the Denver District Attorney's office.

The Denver Police Department is expected to take administrative action in the case once the criminal case is completed.

Cordova was awarded the Medal of Honor for "displaying an act of courage that clearly distinguishes gallantry beyond the call of duty" in May 2005 after he helped pull people out of a burning house.

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