"...But Koncilja's departure came a week after testimony from a current and a former deputy district attorney that painted him and the district attorney's office in a negative light. Their testimony also suggested Thiebaut didn't have a grasp of case law governing criminal procedure.
The hearing was for a request by Public Defender Adam Schultz to dismiss a murder case against Puebloan David Carrillo.
The hearing involved the creation of a memo discussing the truthfulness of a police officer at the scene of the crime. The memo was created at Koncilja's instruction, who then asked it be kept secret from other attorneys in the office.
Both Deputy District Attorney Steve Jones and former lead prosecutor Steve Cornetta said the memo represented a pattern of behavior in which Koncilja would do investigations into cases without attorneys' knowledge, kept files on his investigations and would, at times, refuse to allow lawyers in the office to access those files.
The Carrillo hearing is scheduled to resume in February....."
(Jeff Tucker)
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3 comments:
Pueblo is run by elected criminals. The DA does not protect "we the people." If you are a criminal, move to Pueblo. Huge crimes are protected by the DA's office. The FBI has been useless. Ken Salazar helps to cover crimes here. Very sad for honest people.
Am not from Pueblo, anonymous. But do follow statewide politics, law enforcement and judicial.
Here's two things that bother me the most about this situation with Thiebaut and a couple more we've got statewide in DA offices and at least one in law enforcement.
The first is that Colorado has become accepting. Somehow we've reached a point in our elected government that power overrides duty. We're a large state and significant in national government and economy. At least 95%+ of our elected officials in judicial and law enforcement are stellar in the performance of their duties. They may have issues with some parts of what they control but they are not complacent. They don't just sit in an admin role and trust all to their people to handle. Since when and where did it become the norm to have anything goes be OK? There's no room and never any margin for error in a district attorney or a cop. If they do then since when do the people allow that error to go unchecked, undisciplined, not held to accountability? What's bothering me the most is that somehow Coloradans are just sitting back and allowing power to over rule duty.
The second thing that's really getting to me is that power over-ruling duty is bleeding money to pull it all off with from the people. If that was done by an average citizen, it would be called a crime.
Thiebaut or any other D.A. in Colorado should be removed from office if ever there is a significant error or abuse in judgment or power. Immediately and without harm to the people. Forget the impeachment process for these guys, they're in the highest position of trust we have. Only ones that are higher are our judges. As for employees like this Koncilja, the county that oversees the budget of his employer should have the power to fire or at the very minimum call for investigative review of all his cases.
The law and our rules are for everyone and there is no picking and choosing of what portions to enforce or serve. After watching Thiebaut in the congressional redistricting debacle between the right and the left, I couldn't help but wonder where Pueblo's commissioners who oversee this guy are. The good news is that he can be voted out soon.
That doesn't mean he should get away without being investigated by a judicial or commissioner panel. Somewhere and somehow, Coloradans who're fed up with this kind of thing have got to start taking a stand against it.
There shouldn't even be impeachment or investigation.
The DA or elected cop involved should just step down if ever there's a significant mistake or error. Just step down. It shouldn't cost the people or the victims anything. The problem in Pueblo is that it's not just the DA and his staff.
It's a sad day for good people in Colorado when they don't at least honor that part of their oath to duty.
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