Denver Chief Judge Michael Martinez on Friday delivered sharp criticism of the District Attorney’s Office, but said he did not have grounds to order the prosecution of a Denver Sheriff Department deputy who slammed a shackled inmate into a courthouse wall.

Deputy Brady Lovingier should have been charged with third-degree assault in the 2012 incident, which was captured on courtroom security cameras. However, the statute of limitations on misdemeanors has expired, Martinez said.

“I don’t know any human being that can watch that video and not know something wrong is going on here,” Martinez said

Martinez’s ruling came after a five-hour emergency hearing that ended after 7 p.m. The courtroom was packed with security, politicians, interested attorneys and civil rights activists, who have long criticized District Attorney Mitch Morrissey for failing to prosecute police and sheriff’s deputies in excessive-force cases.

Martinez agreed the force used against inmate Anthony Waller in September 2012 was excessive, but said there was no legal avenue for prosecuting the deputy because misdemeanors must be charged within 18 months of when they happened.

“It’s a hollow victory for you,” Martinez told Waller’s attorney, Ken Padilla.

Waller was allowed to leave the courtroom before Martinez finished delivering his decision.

Morrissey did not attend the hearing because he had previous plans to attend an out-of-town wedding. His office was represented by Deputy District Attorney Doug Jackson, who made the original decision to not seek charges against the deputy.

After the hearing, Lynn Kimbrough, a spokeswoman for the DA’s office, said she disagreed with the judge’s opinion that Lovingier should have been charged with a crime. Jackson is an experienced prosecutor who knows what it takes to get a conviction from a Denver jury, she said.

“I suspect Judge Martinez may not have that same familiarity,” Kimbrough said.

Morrissey had been ordered to court to explain his refusal to prosecute after Padilla filed a petition to ask a judge to order prosecution. It’s rare for a hearing to be granted in these cases, and Martinez said it was his first in 19 years on the bench.

Padilla had asked the judge to order second-degree assault and felony hate crime charges to be sought against Lovingier by a special prosecutor. The statute of limitations on those felony charges expired Friday.

On Sept. 12, 2012, Waller had appeared in court after being arrested on kidnapping and assault charges. He was addressing Judge Doris Burd when Lovingier touched him on the back.

Waller turned to look at the deputy, and Lovingier grabbed him by chains around his waist and slammed him into a window frame in the courtroom. Waller fell, and deputies dragged him from the courtroom.

An internal investigation into Lovingier was launched after Burd filed a complaint with a higher-ranking judge.

Waller, who is now jailed in Denver on different charges, filed a federal lawsuit over the incident.

Lovingier served a 30-day suspension after the public safety director’s office determined he had used inappropriate force and had no justifiable reason to slam Waller into the wall.

In April, Lovingier was granted a one-year, unpaid leave of absence from the sheriff’s department.

Padilla and Waller claimed that Lovingier, who is white, called Waller, who is black, “boy” during the incident.

The judge said he did not hear the racially derogatory comment after viewing the video at least a dozen times, but that he thought the DA’s office still could have pursued a misdemeanor hate crime against Lovingier.

Waller and his attorney also claimed he suffered broken teeth, a fractured bone near his eye, a gash on his head, a closed head injury and injuries to his back, neck, legs and ankles, according to documents filed in court.

However, the judge sided with district attorney’s argument that Waller’s injuries were not that severe. A brain scan done hours after the assault did not find any injuries, and the eye fracture was old, medical records showed.

At the hearing’s beginning, Jackson had argued that the minor injuries did not elevate the assault to a felony charge.

Jackson added there was more to the incident than what had been shown publicly on the video.

Earlier that day, Waller had refused to leave his cell to go to court. That played into Lovingier’s thinking as he grabbed him by the chains, Jackson said.

Four other deputies also wrote statements supporting Lovingier’s actions in the courtroom because Waller had made an aggressive move, Jackson said.

And, Waller’s extensive criminal history would have been aired before a jury, damaging his credibility with a jury, Jackson said.

“The video, I know, is difficult to look at. The video is alarming,” Jackson said. “But it would be irresponsible to make a decision based only on the video evidence.”

Jackson said the question was, “Did Lovingier hockey slam that guy into the wall to hurt him or did Deputy Lovingier have a more noble intention to protect Judge Burd and maintain safety in the courtroom?”

But Martinez said he had reviewed videos with a critical eye and disagreed with Jackson’s decision. A second video, which has not been publicly released, showed the incident from Burd’s perspective.

“I don’t for the life of me see how the prosecutor could make that assessment in light of the video,” Martinez said.

The judge’s opinion is likely to bolster Morrissey’s critics, who earlier this year unsuccessfully launched a recall petition against Morrissey.

Groups such as the NAACP, Colorado Latino Forum and Colorado Progressive Action complain that Morrissey is too cozy with law enforcement to prosecute bad apples at the police and sheriff’s departments.

After the hearing, Padilla said the judge’s words supported Morrissey’s critics.

The prosecutors “don’t care about an inmate like Anthony Waller,” Padilla said. “They care about protecting the system.”

Noelle Phillips: 303-954-1661, nphillips@denverpost.com or twitter.com/Noelle_Phillips