Ex-judge's role was known

Courts urged no prosecution over stolen computer

Lou Kilzer, Rocky Mountain News

Published March 9, 2007 at midnight

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Colorado judicial authorities knew that a former district court judge was suspected of stealing a $1,600 state computer when they told police last month that they didn't want him prosecuted "at this time."

That was revealed in a statement released by the state court administrator's office on Thursday.

However, the statement from the office of State Court Administrator Gerald Marroney said Larry Manzanares, who became Denver city attorney in January, did not receive "any preferential treatment" by the administrator's office.

The office said it declined to recommend prosecution because it was conducting its own investigation.

On Wednesday, a court administrator's office spokesman said he did not know whether senior officials knew that Manzanares was the target when they recommended against prosecution.

A timeline accompanying the court administrator's statement says state officials knew by Feb. 15 that Manzanares was implicated.

Jefferson County officials, who are acting as special prosecutors in the case, said a decision whether to charge Manzanares could be made as soon as next week.

Denver police approached officials from the state court administrator's office twice, on Feb. 16 and Feb. 20, to get them to go along with the prosecution of Manzanares.

The decision on the 20th to ask for no prosecution "at this time" had an immediate impact on the investigation.

The next day, a Denver deputy district attorney declined to file charges, citing the judicial officials' position.

That decision was reversed when DA brass learned the identity of the suspect. They referred the matter to Jefferson County prosecutors, who continue to investigate.

Thursday's release said that state court officials delayed a decision because they "wanted to take the necessary time to investigate both the theft and the use of the computer, while at the same time comply with the Denver Police Department's request for a statement."

The two officials known to be involved in the no-prosecution recommendation are State Court Administrator Marroney and the department's legal counsel, Carol Haller.

Rob McCallum, a spokesman for the state court administrator, said Thursday that another official, Colorado Chief Justice Mary Mullarkey, "was clearly briefed on the issue, but she never gave any directives."

He said he did not know when the chief justice was briefed, though he noted, "Gerry Marroney's boss is the chief justice."

On Feb. 23, the Jefferson County special prosecutor took the laptop from the administrator's office.

McCallum said all the state's actions were above board and not intended to protect a former judicial colleague.

"From the state court administrator's perspective, there would be no obstruction of justice with how we handled this," he said.

Tracing the 'parking lot' laptop

• Jan. 26: State court administrator worker reports $1,579 laptop computer missing from Denver City and County Building.

• Jan. 31: Theft detection software installed in the missing laptop sends notification to an electronic monitoring center that the computer is logged on to the Internet, recording the Internet Protocol (IP) address.

• Feb. 7: Denver County Court judge issues a search warrant granting Denver police access to Comcast records that identify the subscriber through the IP address.

• Feb. 15: Police trace the laptop to the home of Denver City Attorney Larry Manzanares, a former district and county court judge.

• Feb. 16: Manzanares returns the laptop to Denver District Court. Police ask the state court administrator if the agency wants the case prosecuted. The agency asks for time to review the computer.

• Feb. 20: Carol Haller, legal counsel for the state court administrator's office, asks Denver police not to prosecute anyone for the laptop theft "at this time."

• Feb. 21: In light of Haller's request, a deputy DA initially decides she can drop the case, but her superiors reverse the decision after learning that Manzanares is the suspect.

• Feb. 23: Mayor John Hickenlooper puts Manzanares on leave after being contacted by a Denver's 7 reporter. The station breaks the story about Manzanares having the stolen laptop in his possession that night.

• Feb. 27: Manzanares resigns.Sources: State Court Administrator'S Office, Denver Police Reports And Court Documents.

kilzerl@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-2644

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