Officer Steven Underwood gave the ultimate sacrifice in service to the criminal justice system. He lost his life trying to serve a bench warrant, an order of the court that directed the arrest of Charles Champion.

Officer Underwood’s sacrifice in the service of justice is the enduring symbol of justice in this case. His life and his death deserved a resolution that reflected uncompromising justice. After more than three and a half years, the criminal justice system was unable to return the ultimate measure of justice in his case.

The plea we accepted today has brought accountability and finality to the case, and was in the best interests of public safety. It is, however, the imperfect result of an imperfect justice system.

In the early morning hours of Wednesday March 7, 2001, Des Moines Police Officer Steven J. Underwood was on patrol on Pacific Highway South when he saw a group of four men walking down the street and recognized one of them as a person wanted by the courts on felony warrants.

Officer Underwood’s alert observation was communicated to fellow officers on police radio. Records show that he also used the computer in his patrol car to verify the presence of an outstanding warrant for the name “Charles S. Champion”.

Officer Underwood then announced on the radio that he was going to contact four men walking along the highway, including the subject he believed had the outstanding warrants. Moments later, he lay fatally wounded on the sidewalk, shot in the head and thigh and grazed by another of four rounds fired from a .32 caliber handgun.

Every murder case that comes to this office represents a terrible tragedy, but the slaying of a police officer hits each of us in the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office especially hard. Our daily work brings us into contact with officers, men and women who we come to know, like, and admire.

But more than that, an attack on a police officer is an attack on each of us, a violent response to the ordered justice that courts represent. In serving bench warrants, the police are doing the work of the prosecutor and the court, serving justice by enforcing the authority of the court.

Police, prosecutors and the courts are a team, dependent on each other for the strength and integrity of the criminal justice system as a whole. That is why the killing of a police officer becomes an aggravated murder. The shots fired at Officer Underwood were shots fired at the criminal justice system he represented.

In 2001 I made the decision that this case was deserving of a jury consideration of the death penalty.

The procedural history of this case is worthy of review:

In March 2001, two lawyers were appointed to represent the defendant.

In the summer of 2002, two more lawyers were appointed to the case after the State Supreme Court issued a new rule requiring that capital cases be handled by only certain attorneys on an approved list.

After a time, two more lawyers were appointed by the court to investigate an apparent rift among the first four defense counsel. Numerous hearings were held on this issue that excluded our office.

2001 became 2002, then 2003, and 2004.

Meanwhile, our simple but compelling evidence supporting this charge began to degrade.
Members of the defendant’s family were increasingly uncooperative. It was an increasing challenge to hold the case together.

Several weeks ago when it seemed that a trial date was in sight, we began discussions with the legal team representing Champion.

Today’s plea is the result.

It is not perfect justice. It is not the result Steven Underwood deserved, but it was in the best interest of public safety, and it brings certainty and finality to this long ordeal for the Underwood family.

The plea also has the support and recommendation of Steven’s other family, the Des Moines Police Department.

It is not fair that this case was delayed for so long.

It is not fair that the defendant did not have to face a jury to account for his crime.

It is not fair to the family and the police community that justice in this case was less than perfect.

When we enter into any prosecution, we are in search of justice. At the end of this case, we find the face of justice most clearly in the life and service of Officer Steven Underwood.

Officer Underwood was, by all accounts, an exemplary police officer – caring, professional and committed to service – in short, exactly the kind of person you want in uniform to represent the criminal justice system on the front lines of public safety.

Today we take a moment to give thanksgiving for the life of Steven Underwood.

His mother Sharon, his father Dick, wife Rosethe and son Esteban will think of him every day.

So too will his second family, the officers of the Des Moines Police Department.

The Underwood family has honored Steven’s memory throughout this lengthy process by attending every court hearing and patiently waiting for their day in court.

They are here today, seated in the front row.

I would like to introduce Chief Roger Baker of the Des Moines Police Department:

The Underwood Family would also like to take this opportunity to say a few words:

CONCLUSION

I visited the Des Moines Police Department several weeks ago and Officer Bob Crane took me into the locker room to show me a special memorial dedicated to Steve.

It was his locker, the metal door replaced by Plexiglas. Inside was his uniform, his patrol boots, his badge and a favorite photo of his family.

It serves as a daily reminder to the officers of the Des Moines Police Department that their jobs, their special calling in service of justice, carries inherent risk.

Any officer on the street doing the work of the court in service of justice can become a target of violent resistance to the authority of the court.

Officer Steven Underwood’s tragic death reminds us one more time how dangerous the law enforcement profession can be. As we mourn his loss for his department and his young family, we must renew our debt of gratitude for the men and women who every day put on a uniform and serve the cause of justice.

Dated: November 23, 2004