NAACP calls for scrutiny of DA office

AUSTIN (KXAN) - The NAACP of Austin is calling of local lawmakers to get more involved in officer-involved shooting investigations after they say the DA botched the Sanders case.

 Nelson Linder, President of NAACP of Austin, is scheduled to go before the Travis County Court of Commissioners on Tuesday to talk about issues NAACP has with the Travis County District Attorney’s Office’s handling of the police-involved shooting of Nathaniel Sanders.

A Travis county grand jury did not indict the shooter, Officer Leonardo Quintana, of any criminal charges. However, Linder points out that the DA’s office did not report finding any of the issues that were later identified by an outside company that was hired to evaluate the shooting and internal affairs investigation.

The main issue that was missed by the DA, Linder's group says, was an e-mail that they and police leaders later said showed that one of the internal affairs investigators was biased in favor of Quintana. The e-mail lead to the firing of that officer.

The Austin Police Department fired Detective Chris Dunn in early November.

The e-mail that spurred the investigation read:

"We can make [them] a causation of the entire event. I am so smart I scare myself. Thoughts?"

When the e-mail leaked out, it raised some questions about bias surrounding the investigation.

Austin police Chief Art Acevedo has previously said that internal affairs is the gatekeeper to the department and that he expects internal affairs to remain above reproach.

KeyPoint Government Solutions released a report on the Sanders shooting after a citizens review panel requested an independent investigation into the police-involved shooting death. The 131-page report cited parts of the APD investigation they said were biased towards officers.