April 25, 2002

Contact: Lynn Kimbrough, 720-913-9025

OFFICER WILL BE CHARGED IN FATAL ACCIDENT

The Denver District Attorney’s Office has completed its review of a fatal traffic accident involving a Denver police officer that occurred last fall.  Christian Devinny (DOB: 4-18-70) will be charged with careless driving resulting in death (M1).  The presumptive range for sentencing ranges from a period of probation up to one year in jail and a fine ranging from $100 to $1,000.

42-4-1402. Careless driving – Any person who drives any motor vehicle in a careless and imprudent manner, without due regard for the width, grade, curves, corners, traffic, and use of the streets and highways and all other attendant circumstances, is guilty of careless driving.  …if the person’s actions are the proximate cause of death to another, such person commits a class 1 misdemeanor.

 The accident occurred just before midnight on October 6, 2001 in the 1800 block of south Colorado Boulevard where I-25 passes underneath Colorado Boulevard.  Devinny was on duty, responding to a call, when his patrol car struck the victim, Bruce Rice (DOB: 8-18-52), who was crossing Colorado Boulevard with a companion.

*The filing of a criminal charge is merely a formal accusation that an individual(s) committed a crime(s) under Colorado laws. A defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty. See Colo. RPC 3.6