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Review backs Jeffco DA in Manzanares case

Sue Lindsay, Rocky Mountain News

Published August 15, 2007 at midnight

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Jefferson County District Attorney Scott Storey did nothing improper in announcing charges against former Denver judge and city attorney Larry Manzanares, the office of attorney regulation has concluded.

Manzanares committed suicide June 22, a week after being charged with stealing a court- owned laptop computer.

A lawyer had asked that the Colorado Supreme Court's Attorney Regulation Counsel investigate whether Storey violated rules of professional conduct by holding a news conference to discuss the charges, and releasing an affidavit that detailed pornography Manzanares was accused of downloading and deleting before he turned the laptop over to court officials.

Assistant Regulation Counsel Louise Culberson-Smith said she reviewed an affidavit and a video of the news conference. She and five other attorneys in the office - including office head John Gleason - found insufficient evidence to support filing of a formal complaint against Storey.

"I am grateful that they took a hard look at it and have concluded that I acted appropriately and ethically," Storey said.

His office released a letter Tuesday from Culberson-Smith that informed him of the decision, and a copy of the letter she sent to the unnamed complaining attorney. Referring to the attorney's concern about the media's coverage of the pornography issue, Culberson-Smith wrote, "We recognize and respect your concern, but we cannot prosecute Mr. Storey for what the media chose to focus on." She noted that Storey mentioned the pornography allegations only briefly at the news conference.

Those allegations were necessary to establish probable cause for the felony charge of tampering with physical evidence by explaining "how, when and why Mr. Manzanares allegedly tampered with the computer before he turned it in to the police," Culberson-Smith wrote.

Storey said he believes that he balanced the public's right to know about the case with his ethical responsibilities and Manzanares' presumption of innocence. Manzanares' former defense attorney Gary Lozow declined to discuss the decision.