Ex-judge's name linked to '05 case
Two computers went missing in courtroom move
Jeff Kass, Rocky Mountain News
Published June 14, 2007 at midnight
When two state court computers were stolen in 2005, a now familiar name popped up: Larry Manzanares.
That is the brief, yet intriguing side story to Wednesday's 80-page affidavit alleging Manzanares stole a state court laptop earlier this year.
Both of the stolen computers were taken in the month of July - one during the July Fourth weekend.
One was taken out of an unnamed judge's chambers, and the other was taken out of a locked storage area in Room 39 of the Denver City and County Building, the same area from which the laptop was probably taken this year.
Before becoming Denver city attorney this year, Manzanares was a Denver district judge.
"The (2005) thefts coincided with the process involved when transferring courtrooms," according to the affidavit.
"In the reports documenting those two thefts, Lawrence Manzanares' name was identified as a judge who was either being moved or was having equipment installed."
The affidavit says the computers were never issued to Manzanares. It does not mention whether any other people were named in connection with their disappearance.
The computers have never been found.
The State Court Administrator's Office previously withheld those reports in response to a Rocky Mountain News open records request for reports of thefts of court-owned property.
The reports were withheld at the behest of the special prosecutor investigating Manzanares, court spokesman Rob McCallum said Wednesday.
At least four computers belonging to the state have been taken from the Denver City and County Building in the past two years, according to the affidavit.
The fourth computer was taken over a weekend in 2005 "from an area in the juvenile court clerk's office," the affidavit said.
The laptop currently under scrutiny was reported stolen after it could not be found when it was set to be reissued to a magistrate in the juvenile court.
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