The mayor demanded a review and on Friday, the city manager responded.
A 22-page memo from the city manager to Austin Mayor Lee Leffingwell gives a timeline starting with the shooting of Nate Sanders in May 2009. Now, there's a question about what the mayor knew and when he knew it.
A group of concerned citizens who met in East Austin on Wednesday released a list of demands to the City of Austin on Friday after what they called a cover up by city officials.
One of the things community activists are calling for is a formal apology from the city about the way the Keypoint investigation was handled. The same day, Austin City Attorney David Smith abruptly announced his retirement, partially because of the way he handled the city side of the independent investigation.
Sanders, 18, was shot to death in May 2009 by a-then Austin police offoicer after reaching for a gun. Former officer Leonardo Quintana was cleared by a Travis County grand jury and an internal affairs investigation. The city paid a consulting firm $50,000 for an independent investigation. Last fall, the city released only a portion of that independent report. Then on May 8, the entire report was leaked to the media, and the public learned that investigator had found Quintana was reckless and used excessive force.
Leffingwell released a statement that day, saying, "The council remained unaware of the full details until they were reported by the media. Like everyone, I'm troubled by the findings of the report, and intend to review the matter fully."
But on Friday, a memo released by Austin City Manager Marc Ott shows that in an execuitve session on April 8, a full month before Mayor Leffingwell made that statement, the council was briefed by city attorneys on a wrongful death suit regarding Sanders. Some of that briefing disclosed then-redacted portions of the Keypoint report, including the allegations of recklessness and excessive force.
Calls to Mayor Leffingwell on Friday were not immediately returned.
