{"id":44547,"date":"2025-11-11T07:11:15","date_gmt":"2025-11-11T07:11:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/44547\/"},"modified":"2025-11-11T07:11:15","modified_gmt":"2025-11-11T07:11:15","slug":"colorado-justices-el-paso-county-judge-erred-by-removing-prosecutor-for-comments-about-stabbing-public-defenders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/44547\/","title":{"rendered":"Colorado justices: El Paso County judge erred by removing prosecutor for comments about stabbing public defenders"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Colorado Supreme Court, by a 5-1 vote, concluded on Monday that an El Paso County judge mistakenly removed a prosecutor from a murder case after he was overheard saying he hoped the defendant would stab public defenders if he were released from custody.<\/p>\n

As the prosecution and the defense litigated Rocky Wayne West\u2019s competency to proceed, prosecutor Brien Cecil made inflammatory remarks to the victim\u2019s family about defense counsel. A trial judge determined Cecil\u2019s conduct compromised West\u2019s ability to receive a fair trial, and removed both Cecil and the entire district attorney\u2019s office from the case.<\/p>\n

But a majority of the Supreme Court believed the judge neglected to explain why Cecil\u2019s remarks were \u201cso extreme\u201d that they compromised the fairness of the trial.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the outset, we want to be clear that we, as a court, vigorously denounce the prosecutor\u2019s comment. There is absolutely no place for that type of rhetoric,\u201d wrote Justice Carlos A. Samour Jr. in the Nov. 10 opinion<\/a>. But beyond the \u201cunacceptable and indefensible\u201d statement, the \u201cquestion for us is whether the comment justified disqualifying both the prosecutor and his entire office.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Justice Richard L. Gabriel agreed there were insufficient grounds to disqualify the entire DA\u2019s office from prosecuting West. However, he would have upheld the order to remove Cecil, specifically, as the prosecutor.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am concerned about the message that the majority opinion conveys,\u201d Gabriel wrote. Despite the majority\u2019s condemnation, it \u201callows the prosecutor\u2019s conduct to stand without any consequence. To me, this sends a mixed, and unfortunate, message.\u201d<\/p>\n

West faces a charge of first-degree murder for the killing of Isaiah Curtis Plair at the Springs Rescue Mission last year. Over the next several months, defense lawyers repeatedly sought to evaluate West\u2019s competency to move forward.<\/p>\n

On May 6, West\u2019s public defenders moved to bring in prosecutors from another jurisdiction to handle the case. They alleged troubling behavior from Cecil that affected West\u2019s right to a fair trial.<\/p>\n

The motion accused Cecil of repeatedly claiming the defense was engaging in \u201cdelay tactics\u201d by seeking to evaluate West\u2019s mental issues. He also allegedly shared confidential information from a competency evaluation with Plair\u2019s family.<\/p>\n

More problematically, after an April 25 hearing in which Plair\u2019s family was in attendance, the defense waited to exit because of the \u201cobvious tension\u201d that day. Upon leaving, they overheard Cecil talking to the family. He allegedly said West\u2019s lawyers \u201care trying to get him out so he can stab more people. Hopefully, the next people he stabs are public defenders.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Ralph L. Carr Colorado Judicial Center in downtown Denver houses the Colorado Supreme Court and Court of Appeals. (Photo by Michael Karlik)<\/p>\n

Defense counsel emailed Cecil to say his comments were disturbing and asked him to walk back his statements to the family. Cecil responded that he was \u201cvery frustrated and angry,\u201d but he promised to clarify to Plair\u2019s family that he did not intend for any public defenders to be harmed. Hours later, he confirmed he told the family that he was \u201cnot condoning violence against anyone, and certainly not against members of your office.\u201d<\/p>\n

In response to the motion to disqualify, the DA\u2019s office argued Cecil was justified in his concern that West might never face trial as a result of the competency proceedings.<\/p>\n

\u201cMr. Cecil\u2019s comment to the family was him venting about frustrations in the case by making an off-handed remark to blow off steam,\u201d wrote Deputy District Attorney Grant Libby. The statements show \u201cMr. Cecil is human, not unfair.\u201d<\/p>\n

After a hearing, then-District Court Judge David A. Gilbert disqualified Cecil and the entire office from prosecuting West\u2019s case<\/a>. He acknowledged it was not enough that Cecil\u2019s conduct created an \u201cappearance of impropriety.\u201d But he believed the prosecution needed to operate \u201cin a reasonable and appropriate way,\u201d so no one would question whether \u201cthey couldn\u2019t negotiate\u201d a resolution.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s beyond an appearance of impropriety. It is impropriety itself,\u201d said Gilbert. \u201cBrien Cecil is a higher-up supervisor of the district attorney\u2019s office, and the office will still be seen to reflect Brien Cecil if the case goes forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

The prosecution appealed Gilbert\u2019s decision to the Supreme Court, arguing that Gilbert\u2019s observations about the DA\u2019s office\u2019s ability to plea-bargain had no bearing on whether West would receive a fair trial. Moreover, it was unclear whether Cecil\u2019s remarks would have any effect on the jury if a trial were to occur.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the unlikely event that there are insufficient impartial jurors in El Paso County, the county where West\u2019s alleged crime occurred, jurors could be drawn from Teller County, which is within the Fourth Judicial District,\u201d wrote Senior Deputy District Attorney Doyle Baker.<\/p>\n

The Supreme Court\u2019s majority concluded that Cecil\u2019s comments did not rise to the level of extreme circumstances that have justified the appointment of special prosecutors in the past. Samour wrote that a high bar was necessary to avoid \u201cputting a strain on the system and causing significant problems.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"FILEFILE PHOTO: Colorado Supreme Court Justice Carlos A. Samour Jr. speaks to students at Pine Creek High School during a Courts in the Community event in Colorado Springs on Thursday, Nov. 17, 2022. (The Gazette, Parker Seibold)<\/p>\n

He focused on Gilbert\u2019s statement that Cecil\u2019s actions raised \u201can appearance of impropriety,\u201d which was insufficient to signal an unfair trial.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis smoking gun in the record establishes that the court applied the wrong legal standard,\u201d Samour wrote. \u201cThe court did not say why that impropriety rendered it unlikely that West would receive a fair trial.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added that attorney regulators could potentially address Cecil\u2019s behavior if it violated the rules of professional conduct.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur rebuke of the prosecutor\u2019s comment could not be stronger,\u201d Samour wrote.<\/p>\n

Gabriel, in dissent, noted Gilbert had not simply found Cecil\u2019s comments appeared improper. He actually said they were improper.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo conclude otherwise, the majority goes to great lengths to reinterpret what the district court actually said,\u201d Gabriel wrote. \u201cThe district court said what it said, and I do not believe that it is appropriate for the majority to recharacterize what that court said.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe comments made by our prosecutor and examined in the opinion issued by the Supreme Court certainly fall short of the high standards of conduct we expect from every member of our staff. Appropriately, this prosecutor has been removed from the case moving forward,\u201d said Kate Singh, a spokesperson for District Attorney Michael Allen.<\/p>\n

The union representing public defenders did not have an immediate statement on the opinion.<\/p>\n

Justice Melissa Hart did not participate in the decision. As is the Supreme Court\u2019s practice, there was no explanation for her abstention.<\/p>\n

The case is People v. West.<\/p>\n

Editor\u2019s note: This article has been updated with a statement from the DA\u2019s office.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Colorado Supreme Court, by a 5-1 vote, concluded on Monday that an El Paso County judge mistakenly…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":44548,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[26105,26106,4383,138,1060,140,139,26107,26108,26109,26110,26111,636,26112],"class_list":["post-44547","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-el-paso","tag-brien-cecil","tag-colorado-supreme-court","tag-district-attorney","tag-el-paso","tag-el-paso-county","tag-el-paso-headlines","tag-el-paso-news","tag-fair-trial","tag-judge-david-gilbert","tag-justice-carlos-samour","tag-justice-richard-gabriel","tag-michael-allen","tag-murder","tag-prosecutor"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44547","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44547"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44547\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44548"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44547"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44547"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44547"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}