From ColoradoWatchdog.org:  Denver is lawyering up in response to the district attorney’s review of potential criminal open records violations.

As part of a special counsel contract that was already in place, the city has asked Davis, Graham and Stubbs LLP to represent the city attorney’s office in the district attorney’s review of possible open records violations.

The city “has engaged DGS to represent the City concerning the Denver District Attorney’s inquiry regarding the subject Brian Maass CORA request,” wrote Nikki Holmlund in response to a Watchdog.org request about whether the city has retained counsel in the case.

District Attorney Mitch Morrissey’s office confirmed last month it is reviewing records and news reports showing the city claimed it didn’t have a document in an employment case last year that Maass, a CBS Denver investigative reporter, requested. However, the requested document was included last month in a whistle-blower complaint by assistant city attorney Stuart Shaprio.

State law says knowingly withholding a public record is a misdemeanor.

In mid-March, Morrissey spokeswoman Lynn Kimbrough confirmed the district attorney’s office was conducting an informal review of the situation and gathering documents, saying the review may be completed as soon as the following week.

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