El Paso DA won't file charges in campaign case

Lynn Bartels, the Rocky Mountain News

Published January 30, 2007 at midnight

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A Democratic state senator said today he’s disappointed that a Republican who distorted his record on the campaign trail won’t be charged.

Sen. John Morse, of Colorado Springs, said he was told by the district attorney’s office there that no charges would be filed against Alan Philp, who last year oversaw a Republican organization called the Trailhead Group.

"I am absolutely convinced that the district attorney conducted the most complete and thorough investigation, but I disagree with their conclusion," Morse said.

The investigation centered on an ad by Trailhead concerning Morse’s record when he was police chief of Fountain.

The ad said that, because of Fountain police errors in a case, 14 felony charges were pleaded to one charge of menacing, a misdemeanor. In fact, they were pleaded to a single felony.

"It was an honest mistake and we admitted we made a mistake," Philp said at the time.

Colorado law makes it illegal to "recklessly" or "willfully" make a false statement intended to influence an election.

Philp said today that he had no idea the DA had decided not to charge him. But he said several Democrats had told him he shouldn't be charged. El Paso County District Attorney John Newsome’s office originally told Philp last fall that he was going to face misdemeanor charges, then backed off after a firestorm of criticism from fellow Republicans. He said he was reviewing "new information."

At the time, prominent GOP attorney Scott Gessler, in a blast e-mail to party members, accused Newsome of "professional courtesy" because Morse had been a cop.

"Now we know that the professional courtesy charge isn’t true," Morse said today.

The Trailhead Group was formed to help Republican candidates win statewide and legislative offices.

Morse defeated the incumbent, Sen. Ed Jones, R-Colorado Springs.

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