Denver City Council President Jeanne Robb stormed out of a committee meeting Wednesday after her Hispanic colleagues opposed her recommendation to name the plaza at the new justice center complex downtown after former District Attorney Dale Tooley.

Council members Rick Garcia, Paul Lopez and Judy Montero resisted the move because they said the complex lacks the name of a Latino.

"I'm not talking," a visibly angry Robb said afterward.

Ten of 13 council members attended the Safety Committee meeting to discuss the naming of the new jail and courthouse.

After a three-hour debate, council members voted to name the courthouse after Benjamin Barr Lindsey and James Flanigan.

Lindsey was a county judge who pioneered the use of a stand-alone juvenile court system. Flanigan was Denver's first black district court judge.

Council members then voted to name the jail after Philip Van Cise and L. John Simonet.

Van Cise was a district attorney who prosecuted members of the mob and Ku Klux Klan. Simonet, who is still living, is Denver's former safety manager and director of corrections.

The full council will consider the names in coming weeks.

The naming of the buildings, which started formally last year, has been competitive. The city first called for nominations and then formed a task force to review them.

The 12-member task force, which included four Hispanics, received 11 nominations and forwarded its recommendations to Mayor John Hickenlooper. None of the 11 nominations included the names of any Hispanics.

"But prominent members of the Latino community - both those on the task force and others who circulated petitions - supported the names that were submitted to the mayor and City Council for consideration," said Lucia Guzman, executive director of Denver's Agency for Human Rights and Community Relations.

Council members have no say in the naming of the plaza because it's not a public building. Hickenlooper has final say on that matter.

But Robb proposed a proclamation recommending to Hickenlooper that the plaza be named after Tooley, a former district attorney who fought for the rights of minorities.

Garcia, Lopez and Montero said they wanted more time to give the Hispanic community an opportunity to propose names of Latinos.

Montero said she received calls from Hispanics "who want to weigh in on the plaza."

Montero said Robb's proclamation was "premature" and that Latinos in Denver have made positive contributions in the criminal justice system.

Robb finally gave in and withdrew her proclamation proposal, saying she didn't want the jockeying to turn into a "food fight." She said she wasn't giving up, however, and that it was her intent to honor Tooley.

Robb also said her support for naming the courthouse and jail after Lindsey, Flanigan, Van Cise and Simonet was contingent on the plaza being named after Tooley. To not name part of the new justice center after Tooley would be "wrong," she said.

Montero said the call for nominations could have been more inclusive.

"Truthfully, I think there could have been more prominent outreach to our community for folks to weigh in," she said.