The city of Denver could be held financially responsible for “future misconduct” if a Denver police corporal is allowed to return to work, the city attorney’s office argued Monday in an appeal of the corporal’s reinstatement.

The city attorney’s office also asked the Civil Service Commission to stay the reinstatement of Denver Police Cpl. Randy Murr until commission members can hear its appeal.

A commission hearing panel reinstated Murr last month with back pay and benefits, but it upheld the firing of Officer Devin Sparks. Both officers were fired after they were accused of using inappropriate force in arresting Michael DeHerrera outside a LoDo bar in April 2009 and then lying about it.

The city’s appeal is the next turn in a case that has been wending its way through the disciplinary process for nearly four years. After the incident, then-Public Safety Manager Ron Perea opted to suspend the officers, but the light punishment sparked a public outcry, and police reopened the investigations. The officers were then fired, reinstated and then fired again before they appealed to the three-member panel of lawyers, which determined Murr did not lie about the incident.

But city attorneys wrote in their appeal that “returning Cpl. Murr to a police officer job could compromise public safety and welfare because Cpl. Murr’s untruthfulness about that inappropriate force creates questions as to whether he would be honest about reporting future uses of inappropriate force. .. If Cpl. Murr engages in future misconduct, the City might be held financially liable for the new misdeeds.”

Sadie Gurman: 303-954-1661, sgurman@denverpost.com, or twitter.com/sgurman.