ASSISTANT CHIEF TO SUE CITY

Assistant Police Chief George De Angelis' lawyer has notified the city of El Paso that De Angelis intends to sue the city for allegedly violating the Texas whistle-blower statute.

In a letter delivered Wednesday to Mayor Carlos Ramirez and city representatives, James Martinez accused the city of retaliating against De Angelis after De Angelis voiced concerns that Officer Luis Cortinas, the former administrative assistant to the chief of police, had ties to drug traffickers.

Cortinas' lawyer has said the allegations about Cortinas are false.

De Angelis' allegation about the violation of the whistle-blower statute comes weeks into a grand jury investigation into who provided the El Paso Times and a television station a confidential police document detailing allegations against Cortinas. A grand jury indicted Deputy Police Chief Cerjio Martinez Aug. 17 on two charges of perjury in connection with that investigation. The news outlets have not said who provided the documents.

Dolph Quijano, Cortinas' lawyer, said he thinks De Angelis might be the next to be indicted.

"If he wants to divert any attention from the indictment with that lawsuit, I don't think it's going to get him off the hook," he said.

The letter from De Angelis' lawyer alleges that Ramirez's decision to place De Angelis on paid administrative leave June 15 during an administrative investigation into De Angelis' allegations against police Chief Carlos Leon amounted to a "de facto suspension."

Ramirez put both Leon and De Angelis on paid leave until the conclusion of the administrative investigation, to "ensure fairness and protect the integrity of the investigation," Ramirez said then.

"As a result of the actions of Carlos Leon, the mayor and the city, Assistant Chief De Angelis has been harmed. Among other things, his reputation has been damaged, he has incurred medical expenses and has been unable to work, he has incurred attorneys fees, and he has been made the subject of a retaliatory criminal investigation," Martinez's letter says.

Ramirez said, "All I can say is that my interpretation is different than his."

Neither Leon nor De Angelis could be reached for comment Thursday, and De Angelis' lawyer declined to comment.

East-Central city Rep. Larry Medina said he was saddened by the letter.

"I don't think his reputation was ever at stake," Medina said of De Angelis, who has been with the department 27 years. "People see him as an honest person, someone who really cared for the city by trying to do the right thing, what he felt in his heart. It's sad that he's suing the city that treated him so well because the investigation didn't come out his way."

West Side city Rep. Jan Sumrall said the city did not properly handle the issue from the beginning.

"I never thought it would go further than the initial (administrative) investigation. If the initial investigation of De Angelis' allegations had been handled by an outside agency, we wouldn't face the threat of a lawsuit," she said.

Laura Gordon, supervisor of the trial section at the city attorney's office, said she received a notice letter but hadn't been served with the lawsuit Thursday. "They have to give the city time to investigate the claim," she said.

The whistle-blower statute enables a public employee to collect hundreds of thousands of dollars if he or she experiences retaliation after reporting, in good faith, "a violation of law by the employing governmental entity or another public employee to an appropriate law enforcement authority."

In the summer of 1999, De Angelis approached Leon with a variety of concerns about how the department was run, especially about Leon's administrative assistant, Cortinas, the claim alleges.

In August 1999, De Angelis allegedly reported he had received information that Cortinas might have been involved with drug traffickers and asked Leon to investigate the matter. Leon apparently did not authorize an investigation, however, until April 2000, according to police documents obtained by the Times.

In April, De Angelis took his complaints to the city attorney's office, which launched an administrative investigation into allegations of misconduct on the part of Leon. That investigation culminated with the mayor's giving Leon a written reprimand for backdating a memo.

Ramirez had sent Leon a "cease and desist order" April 20, warning that "any act that would be considered retaliation for a whistle-blower complaint is a violation of federal, state and city law and will be dealt with appropriately." In his written reprimand to Leon on June 26, Ramirez reiterated his warning.

De Angelis' claim states that Ramirez's actions were inadequate and failed to stop the retaliation.

"Carlos Leon excluded Assistant Chief George De Angelis from important decisions and generally undermined his authority and the purview of his position," the claim reads.