FIGHTING FOR THE PEOPLE WITH RESEARCH-BACKED AND HUMAN RIGHTS-FIRST SOLUTIONS.
POLICY
ISSUE 1
Equitable
prosecution policy.
Research shows that people comply with the law when they respect legal authorities they consider legitimate and fair. Recognizing that fairness is a human right, these are four priorities I will pursue to promote community safety through equitable prosecution policy.
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As the American Bar Association Plea Bargaining Task Force reported in 2023, there is “substantial evidence that defendants–including innocent defendants–are sometimes coerced into taking pleas and surrendering their right to trial.”
When, in the words of the U.S. Supreme Court, “plea bargaining . . . is the criminal justice system,” it is never acceptable for a prosecutor’s office to use coercive tactics like overcharging, creating arbitrary time limits for accepting plea offers, or threatening to add charges that trigger mandatory sentencing laws (like habitual counts) if a defendant does not accept a plea offer.
Under a new, human-rights based and comprehensive plea bargain policy, I will prohibit the use of all coercive tactics and implement other essential reforms to protect constitutional trial rights and ensure fair plea bargaining in cases that can be resolved without trial.
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As current and past Denver DAs have explained in their decisions declining to prosecute law enforcement, prosecutors have an ethical obligation to avoid charging cases unless they believe, at the time of charging, that they will prove each element of each charge beyond a reasonable doubt at trial. Both practically and legally, a prosecutors’ ability to meet this obligation is impacted by the quality and thoroughness of the investigation that comes before the charging decision. It is, therefore, essential that all charging decisions follow investigation into all relevant facts.
In order to make this obligation effective, I will require prosecutors to complete a charging decision worksheet, subject to supervisory approval, before filing any case. This worksheet will require prosecutors to detail their charging recommendations, explaining at a minimum the proposed charge(s) and the detailed factual basis for them; the investigatory steps taken to arrive at the charging recommendation; and the goal(s) of prosecuting the case as proposed and an explanation of how the recommended charges (and the sentences they carry) will accomplish that/those goal(s).
After supervisory approval and the case is filed, prosecutors will be required to disclose this document to the defense at the same time they meet other early discovery obligations.
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The average time to resolution of a felony case in Denver is 254 days (approximately 8 ½ months) from the date of case filing. For context, the Colorado speedy trial statute contemplates that a case will go to trial within six months (a technical note: Colorado courts have interpreted the speedy trial deadline to run from arraignment, not charging). Moreover, the Colorado Victims’ Rights Act places an affirmative obligation on prosecutors to “take appropriate action to achieve a swift and fair resolution of the proceedings.”
Nearly all of the cases resolved on this lengthy timeline are resolved by plea bargain or dismissal. (Only 1% of defendants in Denver in 2023 have been “found guilty.”) At the same time, the major selling point of our plea system is efficiency.
Case backlog is unjust to both victims and defendants, it’s expensive, and it threatens prosecutorial outcomes because of the risk that speedy trial violations will necessitate case dismissal. I will develop a plea expediting procedure that ensures speedy resolution of less serious cases and adherence to applicable statutory speedy trial deadlines, which serves everyone’s interests.
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“Second-look” policies are already the norm in many U.S. prosecutorial jurisdictions, including Denver. Good reasons to reconsider old convictions are well-documented and can include concerns such as racial bias, evolving standards of human decency, and changing legal norms (including increased concern over coercive plea bargaining tactics).
A successful conviction review unit must operate from the core value that sentences should be consistent, and the Conviction Review Unit of the Denver DA’s Office under my leadership will prioritize ensuring that past convictions meet the prosecutorial standards for present-day prosecutions. In order to meet that goal, my office will take an affirmative approach to second-look, staffing the office appropriately to review closed cases to ensure yesterday’s outcomes are consistent with today’s prosecution standards.
ISSUE 2
Inclusive victims’ services.
No two victims are the same, and they should not be treated that way by prosecutors’ offices. Here’s how I will promote victim-centered advocacy in the Denver DA’s Office.
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Legal cases are one valuable tool to afford people the opportunity to process the immense trauma that comes from being a crime victim, but there is a limit as to how helpful they can be in the overall healing process. Moreover, tying victims’ healing to a court case can create conflict between the prosecutor, whose client is “The People of the State of Colorado,” and the victim, whose recovery needs are deeply personal, private, and complex. Finally, many victims do not want to be complicit in punishments that violate their personal belief systems and that they view as increasing the likelihood that other people will be harmed in the same way they were.
For these and other reasons, it is essential that victim advocates be empowered to center victims, not prosecutors, in their work. I will develop a standard that requires victim advocates employed by the Denver DA’s Office to act as independent victim representatives, putting victims first.
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Fortunately, there are direct service providers in Colorado who are working hard to help people who experience harm from criminal conduct to heal. In addition to ensuring compliance with the numerous procedural obligations the Colorado Victims’ Rights Act places on district attorneys’ offices, the Denver DA’s Office under my leadership will undertake the affirmative obligation to coordinate care for victims to ensure meaningful healing. By taking a case management approach to victims services, we can prioritize victims’ healing and ensure folks who have been harmed do not get lost in a bureaucratic void.
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By design, the criminal justice system is not intended to afford justice directly to victims. Prosecutors represent “The People of the State of Colorado,” which is a fictional client that includes the general public, the legal system itself, and even the defendant, just as much as the victim.
As a result, victims are easily denied access to remedies that would directly benefit them, including remedies available through the civil justice system.
Comprehensive victims’ services must include basic competency in identifying all available remedies for victims. Where appropriate, victim advocates will assist victims to pursue available remedies and/or who will coordinate referrals to civil counsel for victims in appropriate circumstances.
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The law and society place high expectations for crime prevention on district attorneys. Unfortunately, research demonstrates that punishment has little to no deterrent effect and that jail and prison produce high rates of reoffense. A competent district attorney must innovatively and creatively work on crime prevention activities that have a demonstrated positive effect on community safety.
For example, district attorneys have a key role to play in advocating for laws that would prevent harm from criminal conduct, such as those dealing with motor vehicle safety and those regulating the pharmaceutical companies that are directly responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of Americans living with substance use disorders.
Similarly, district attorneys have an obligation to ensure that the sentences they impose are doing the job they were intended to do. This requires monitoring and reporting on sentencing outcomes and, where appropriate, providing advice and counsel to the legislature and the courts about needed improvements given our excessively high rates of re-offense.
ISSUE 3
Institutional accountability.
Prosecutors have a key role to play in ending systemic injustices. These are three ways I will prioritize institutional accountability, both within and outside the Denver DA’s Office.
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Crimes committed by institutions and their people (e.g., law enforcement and corporate representatives) should be prosecuted by lawyers with special expertise in systemic accountability. That expertise must include everything from understanding how to investigate crimes committed by institutional actors to where to target prosecutions in order to resolve systemic issues to how to craft remedies designed to prevent future institutional misconduct.
By creating a practice group that focuses on these uniquely complex crimes, I will ensure that institutional crimes are taken as seriously and prosecuted as competently as ordinary street crimes. All people in Denver deserve to feel and be safe, and that includes people who are victimized by institutions.
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Prosecutors, perhaps more than any other types of lawyers in the U.S., are responsible for policing their own behavior. It is essential that internal ethics standards be clear, detailed, and strictly enforced. That means district attorneys’ offices must take it upon themselves to follow high standards, even when they think no one is looking.
I will require lawyers in the Denver DA’s Office to uphold the highest standards of care in prosecuting cases, including with regard to producing documents and information to the defense and avoiding the use of coercive tactics. To enforce these standards, I will establish procedures to affirmatively monitor lawyer compliance with applicable rules.
Ethical violations will be handled in accordance with industry standards for private practice, including referral to the Colorado Attorney Regulation Counsel in appropriate cases. Violations of internal policy will be addressed via appropriate means, such as employment actions and/or disclosure to defense counsel and the court.
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Building off of the work that has been done in recent years to increase public awareness of the work of Colorado prosecutors, I will create and publicize (in accordance with relevant privacy laws) actionable datasets about the Denver DA’s Office’s work and cases.
A major component of data transparency under my leadership will include following and accurately reporting on case outcomes in an effort to understand and reduce Colorado’s exceedingly high recidivism rates.
ISSUE 4
Healthy workplace.
Great prosecutorial leadership is as much about workplace culture as it is the ethical prosecution of cases. Here’s how I will support employees of the Denver DA’s Office.
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Research is clear that one of the things that matters most to us as humans is having a sense of meaning and purpose. Those of us who are drawn to justice-centered work are passionate about making the world a better place, but it is all too easy to lose sight of that spark. This is especially true in jobs where we see tragedy and trauma day in, and day out.
Denver DA’s Office employees are People of the State of Colorado, too. By directly connecting prosecutorial work to positive outcomes, I will empower Denver DA’s Office employees to do their jobs in a fulfilling and, therefore, just way.
I will follow best practices for employee involvement in office decision making, including using a democratic process where appropriate. And of course, employee feedback will be welcome at any time.
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Lawyers and legal professionals suffer burnout at excessively high rates. Symptoms can have catastrophic consequences, ranging from substance abuse to depression and anxiety to inability to maintain personal relationships. These problems are intensified when we are exposed to high levels of human suffering through our work, which can result in secondary trauma and other conditions.
Burnout prevention requires active leadership. It is not enough to send a weekly email to employees reminding them, for example, to take a fifteen-minute walk to preserve their mental health. Instead, the leader of a law practice must create and maintain sustainable workplace conditions.
In leading the Denver DA’s Office, I will rely on recommendations from experts in fields like lawyer wellness, organizational psychology, and time management. I will similarly ensure adequate staffing in the office relative to practice volume. And, I will coordinate employee access to benefits designed to prevent and treat burnout.
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Workplace equity means meeting people where they are, recognizing that each individual has responsibilities, relationships, and interests outside the workplace. Flexible work schedules, shortened work weeks, and supportive vacation and sick leave policies can be balanced even with demanding litigation calendars and high-volume law practices.
A confidential and independent grievance procedure is essential to enforcing workplace equity practices. Because district attorneys’ offices are led by elected officials who are not, as a general matter, subject to a higher enforcement authority (other than the court system or the professional misconduct bodies), it is especially important to ensure that employees feel safe in reporting workplace misconduct and other issues, and that they feel confident the office will address those issues fairly and objectively.
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Many people who work in the Denver DA’s Office are dedicated professionals who are called to do prosecutorial work to make the world a better place. Election of a new District Attorney can easily feel unsettling and disruptive to employees who have worked in the office for many years, especially someone who will change existing office policies and practices.
As a leader whose foundational principle is fairness, I will ensure that all employees of the Denver DA’s Office receive clear, intentional, and direct communication about the mission, policies, and procedures of the Office. Using research-based inclusion practices, I will create a welcoming environment for all employees who share in the Office’s mission and vision and remain dedicated to their careers in the Denver District Attorney’s Office. For any employees who believe their skills would better serve another role, I will provide appropriate transitional support. In the event that there are open positions that need to be filled, I will recruit and retain employees from within and outside Denver who are dedicated to the Office’s mission and work.