BY KRISTEN DELGUZZI
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Douglas Depodesta Lorenzo Collins

If a judge declines to intervene, it could be at least a month before Cincinnati Police Officer Douglas Depodesta learns whether he'll ever wear a badge and gun again.

Officer Depodesta, who fatally shot a brick-wielding mental patient in February, was stripped of his police powers pending the outcome of a psychiatric evaluation.

CLICK HERE for a summary and links to the three-day Enquirer series sparked by the shooting death of Lorenzo Collins.

But because the exam - part of a fitness-for-duty investigation ordered by Cincinnati officials - has yet to be scheduled, Officer Depodesta on Tuesday asked a judge to order the city to return his gun and badge and restore his powers of arrest. Instead of patrol duty, Officer Depodesta is working at the department's target range.

Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Norbert Nadel will rule on the request Thursday. His comments in court Tuesday, though, indicated that he might not be willing to intercede at this point, because city leaders say they should be able to make their own decision on Officer Depodesta's status by the end of September.

"(I) don't run the police department. Public pressure does not run the police department," Judge Nadel said. "The question here is, should this court be sticking its nose into the affairs of the police department?"

City leaders say no, that decisions about how and where officers are assigned are discretionary matters best decided by Safety Director Kent Ryan and Police Chief Michael Snowden, who revoked Officer Depodesta's police powers July 1.

Attorney Donald Hardin, who represents Officer Depodesta, says the judge needs to intervene because city leaders are trying to delay the psychiatric evaluation to force Officer Depodesta to resign.

"They want to punish him, and they want to get him off the street whether they have reason to or not," Mr. Hardin said.

He also said Officer Depodesta, an officer since 1994, needs his gun for protection; the officer has received death threats. "That's what I was told about why I was taken off the streets initially, because of fear for my safety," Officer Depodesta said.

The psychiatric exam has not been scheduled, Mr. Ryan said, because he is shopping for an outside doctor who can provide an unbiased opinion.

Numerous reviews of the shooting of Lorenzo Collins have cleared Officer Depodesta of wrongdoing.

Yet Chief Snowden and Mr. Ryan say they have concerns about how Officer Depodesta would react if he were on the street and confronted with another situation that required a snap decision.

Officer Depodesta was one of several officers who had cornered Mr. Collins. He fired when Mr. Collins refused to drop a brick.

Hours after the fatal shooting, Chief Snowden saw the first hint of a potential problem with Officer Depodesta, the chief said Tuesday.

"From my experience, he was just a little too calm, a little too relaxed about the situation," Chief Snowden said.

Previous stories

COP WHO SHOT COLLINS WANTS GUN, JOB BACK August 23, 1997
YATES WANTS FEDERAL GRAND JURY August 18, 1997
BLACKS VOW TO ESCALATE PROTESTS August 12, 1997
CITY ISSUES COLLINS REPORT August 5, 1997
COPS SHOULDN'T HAVE FIRED, OMI SAYS August 2, 1997
COLLINS REPORT LEAVES QUESTIONS August 2, 1997
20 PROTEST AT COP'S HOME July 13, 1997
COLLINS CASE TO GET PUBLIC REVIEW July 3, 1997
POLICE ORDERED TO CARRY BATONS July 2, 1997
REVIEWS CLEAR POLICE IN COLLINS SHOOTING July 1, 1997
COLLINS CASE IS BEING DISTORTED An Editorial, June 8, 1997
POLICE SUPPORT OFFICERS IN SHOOTINGS June 5, 1997
POLICE UNION, PROTESTERS PLAN DEMONSTRATIONS June 3, 1997
ENOUGH GUILT TO SHARE Laura Pulfer column, June 3, 1997
SHOOT FIRST, ASK QUESTIONS LATER Peter Bronson column, June 1, 1997
COLLINS PROTESTS CONTINUE May 31, 1997
RADIO LINKS ERRATIC IN COLLINS CHASE May 30, 1997
POLICY ON POLICE HOLDS UNCLEAR May 30, 1997
POLICE SUMMARY OF ITS INVESTIGATION May 29, 1997
DIAGRAM OF THE SHOOTING SCENE May 29, 1997
NO CRIME FOUND IN COLLINS SHOOTING May 29, 1997
NINE MINUTES OF CONFUSION: THE SHOOTING OF LORENZO COLLINS May 27, 1997
DIAGRAM RECONSTRUCTING THE EVENTS May 27, 1997
TRAINING, POLICIES AND POLICE ACTION May 27, 1997
WHY DID THE COPS KILL LORENZO? Peter Bronson column, May 25, 1997
BORGMAN CARTOON May 25, 1997
PUSH FOR POLICE REVIEW FEARED May 9, 1997
FBI TO REVIEW COLLINS CASE May 8, 1997
MARCHERS VOW SEASON OF DISRUPTIONS May 5, 1997
PROSECUTORS GET REPORT ON FATAL SHOOTING April 29, 1997
SHOOTING PROTESTERS ALLEGE POLICE BRUTALITY April 17, 1997
DEMONSTRATORS CITE SHOOTING OF MENTAL PATIENT March 24, 1997
BAPTIST MINISTERS PROTEST AGAINST POLICE March 20, 1997
LAWSUIT SEEKS $5 MILLION March 13, 1997
PUNISH POLICE, MARCHERS URGE March 5, 1997
FATAL SHOOTING CONCERNS COMMUNITY March 2, 1997
PROBE: POLICE FIRED FOUR SHOTS AT MAN WITH BRICK Feb. 25, 1997
MAN SHOT BY POLICE AFTER CHASE Feb. 24, 1997