Law firm pushes for Colorado law to maintain prosecutors accountable

DENVER — Suzanne Morphew disappeared from her Salida residence in Could 2020. One particular calendar year later on, her partner, Barry, was billed with murder. In April, the judge in the case sanctioned prosecutors for what he explained as a “continuing sample” of failing to flip more than proof to the defense. Two months afterwards, Morphew walked out of the Fremont County courthouse a absolutely free gentleman following prosecutors dropped the charges from him.

“I have never viewed prosecutorial misconduct this egregious in my entire vocation, and I’ve been practising law 30 years,” said Iris Eytan, Morphew’s attorney.

Eytan stated prosecutors not only withheld proof, but also falsified information in Morphew’s arrest warrant and attempted to get a witness to falsely testify at the preliminary hearing very last calendar year.

That is why Eytan said she’s now launching a campaign to hold prosecutors extra accountable, pushing for a new Colorado regulation that would let defendants who are wrongfully prosecuted to sue prosecutors.

The plan is related to the state’s police accountability regulation that was enacted two decades ago, which enables people to sue Colorado police officers for their steps on the work.

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“Practically nothing ever comes about to prosecutors. They cannot be sued. They have absolute immunity. They really do not get charged with crimes. They never eliminate their law licenses,” Eytan explained.

Very last 12 months, Eytan drafted a prosecutor accountability bill, but it failed to make it really much in the Colorado legislature.  She’s now hoping to get a very similar invoice released in 2024.

“It truly is time to transform the infrastructure on how the technique is mismanaged and how considerably misconduct is triggered,” Eytan reported.

In accordance to Eytan, 30% of all wrongful convictions in the U.S. are brought about by prosecutorial misconduct, and 70% of that misconduct includes prosecutors withholding proof from the protection.

9News achieved out to the Colorado District Attorneys’ Council for a comment on the story, but they reported they ended up not out there.

9News was also not able to achieve any person with the 11th Judicial District Attorney’s Office environment, which charged and then dropped costs in opposition to Morphew.

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