Lawyers want probe to be modeled after the McClain inquiry
The Colorado Criminal Defense Bar this week called for the investigation into alleged sexism, harassment and coverups at the Colorado Judicial Branch to be modeled after the independent investigation into the death of Elijah McClain in Aurora.
Like the McClain investigation, the effort to review the judicial branch should rely on a small group of nationally recognized subject-matter experts who have no connections to Colorado’s legal community, association president Brian Williamson wrote in a letter Monday to the panel of eight people tasked with setting the parameters of the judicial investigation.
The panel will determine the scope and focus of the investigation, which was prompted after former State Court Administrator Christopher Ryan alleged last month that top judicial leaders gave a $2.5 million contract to an outgoing employee to keep her from revealing misconduct by judges.
Experts in human resources and gender bias, as well as a retired judge, should be included among the investigators, the defense bar suggested in its letter, and out-of-state attorneys from multiple firms should be allowed to assist as needed throughout the process.
“It’s incredibly important to restore public trust in the state judiciary,” said Tristan Gorman, legislative policy coordinator for Colorado Criminal Defense Bar. She added that transparency and due process during the investigation will be key.
The letter urges the panel to focus the investigation on the $2.5 million contract, how employees of the judicial branch are treated based on their race, class, gender or disability, and how discipline is handled for judges and employees.
Gorman said it’s critical that the investigators be totally independent of the state’s legal ecosystem.
“You never know who went to law school together, who worked together, who has served on some board,” she said.
“There are just all kinds of possibilities, because Colorado’s legal community is, frankly, not all that big.”
The panel includes Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Pete Lee, D-Colorado Springs, as well as Sen. Bob Gardner, RColorado Springs; Rep. Kerry Tipper, D-Lakewood; Rep. Adrienne Benavidez, D-Commerce City; and Rep. Terri Carver, R-Colorado Springs.
Gov. Jared Polis’ chief legal counsel, Jacki Cooper Melmed, is also in the group, along with Kara Veitch, executive director of the Department of Personnel and Administration, and deputy attorney general Maritza Dominguez Braswell.
The group is expected to draft a request for proposal for investigators in the coming weeks. The proposal will then be open for about a month before the investigators are chosen.