For the first time since the late 1960s, the district attorney in the 18th Judicial District will come from outside of the current administration.
Since 1968, the judicial district that includes Arapahoe, Douglas, Lincoln and Elbert counties has had a tradition of picking new district attorneys from the ranks of current deputies.
But that won’t happen this time around.
Both Republican George Brauchler and Democrat Ethan Feldman are familiar faces on the local legal scene, but neither works in the current DA’s office.
Brauchler is a former prosecutor in Jefferson County and a current military prosecutor in the United States Army. In the Republican primary, Brauchler beat Deputy District Attorney Leslie Hansen, who many saw as the heir apparent to District Attorney Carol Chambers. Chambers is leaving office in January because of term limits.
Feldman worked as a prosecutor in Arapahoe County before taking a job as a judge, which he stepped down from early this year to pursue the district attorney’s spot. He was the presiding judge of the Arapahoe County court.
In interviews, the two candidates seem to agree more often than they disagree.
Both candidates say they would like to make the district attorney’s office more efficient and see cases work their way through the court system more quickly than they have under the current administration.
They also said they would be less inclined to use the habitual offender designation than the current administration is.
The designation means sentences for defendants with multiple felonies on their history can be up to four-times longer than if prosecutors decided not to apply the habitual designation.
Under Chambers, prosecutors have used the designation more than prosecutors in all the other jurisdictions in the state combined.
Feldman said that doesn’t make sense, especially considering that the 18th Judicial District is similar to others.
“I don’t think this district is more crime ridden than all the other districts in the state combined,” he said.
In some cases, though, Feldman said the designation is certainly appropriate because certain offenders simply need to be locked away fro lengthy stretches.
Brauchler said that the designation can be useful in some cases, but sometimes by seeking it and putting the prospect of an unnecessarily long sentence out there, it makes plea negotiations more difficult than they need be.
“When you add that habitual criminal (designation), you change the nature of that case so strongly,” he said.
The two candidates said they would like to see the discovery process by which prosecutors share evidence with the defense speeded up by electronically filing the bulk of those documents.
They also said they would give deputy district attorneys more discretion to make plea agreements, something that would mean cases conclude faster than they currently do.
Speaking for themselves: 18th Judicial District Attorney, Arapahoe, Douglas, Elbert counties
Challenger: Ethan Feldman-D
Challenger: George Brauchler-R
What makes you the most qualified candidate?
Ethan Feldman
I have the necessary quantity and quality of experience in all three legal roles in the Criminal Justice System. I was Chief Deputy DA in this District, an attorney in private practice in this District, and an Arapahoe County Judge for 20 years. As a prosecutor I tried 11 Murder cases plus a sanity trial in a murder case. As a private attorney I defended a death penalty case that went to trial. As a judge I presided over approximately 250 jury trials, 15,000 felony cases, and tens of thousands of misdemeanor cases. I have been a leader in the judiciary as President of the Colorado Trial Judges Council and President of the Colorado County Judges Association. I was president of the Arapahoe County Bar Association. I served on 4 Colorado Supreme Court Committees, three of which were tasked with making improvements and innovations to the Criminal Justice System in Colorado. One of the main areas was technological innovation and I was on the Committee which guided the Courts in the direction of ultimately becoming paperless through on line filing and other innovations. I have always been on the cutting edge of changes in the Judicial System, legally and technologically.
George Brauchler:
Leadership, experience, energy, and vision. I have been successful as a prosecutor here in Colorado as a Deputy DA for over a decade, and I have also been successful as a military prosecutor, Special Assistant US Attorney, and most recently, as the Chief of Military Justice–the top prosecutor– for Fort Carson, and ultimately the 4th Infantry Division and the US Division-North outside Tikrit, Iraq just last year. I know how to lead prosecutors. I have also been called upon to train local prosecutors across the country and prosecutors for the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines across the world. I know how to make prosecutors better. I have earned the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the Army Reserve, the greatest leadership training organization in the world. I am the only candidate who has led teams of prosecutors, trained prosecutors, and prosecuted cases–including homicide cases–within the past 20 years.
Should the DA’s office continue its support of the fledgling mental-health court?
Ethan Feldman:
We should continue the support and expand it in appropriate cases. The process needs to be refined so as to speed up the screening process and so that we can reach better resolutions more quickly. Of course, we must not sacrifice justice and accountability in the name of haste.
George Brauchler:
Yes. The mental-health court should continue to provide an alternative to simply locking-up those individuals shoe offenses and potential to re-offend are driven by diagnosable and treatable mental health issues. We need to take a close look at how the extra resources and efforts we spend on treating the mental health court cases affect recidivism, community safer, and the overall pursuit of justice, which are the hallmarks of any good DA`s office.
How can the DA’s office work to reduce court crowding and prosecutor overload?
Ethan Felddman:
If we improve training, we will improve the ability of prosecutors to be confident in resolving cases in a more efficient manner. Every continuance of a case has a multiplier effect on the backlog in the system. If we can reduce the resolution time by 50% , for instance, we will reduce the backlog by an even greater amount. Once again, however, we must be careful not to sacrifice the quality of justice or the accountability of offenders.
George Brauchler:
The DA`s office needs to focus on the job of achieving justice and to do so efficiently. It was a great American who once said “justice too long delayed is justice denied.” That sentiment is true in the criminal justice system as well. We need to recruit, train, and retain the best team of justice-seeking prosecutors we have had in a long time. I will empower those prosecutors with the discretion to achieve “justice” through a plea bargain if appropriate, a trial if necessary, and a dismissal if justice demands it. Many cases which currently languish in our courts with new court date after new court date can be resolved more quickly under different leadership.
Should the DA’s office work to decrease jail and prison time for non-violent offenders to save money?
Ethan Feldman:
I believe in problem solving courts such as drug courts and veterans courts so that we can give certain offenders an opportunity to have the treatment that will help them to become productive citizens. We need to be not only tough but smart. Helping out non-violent offenders before they make a career of crime benefits not only the offender but the community and the taxpayers. However, we must hold them accountable as part of treatment.
George Brauchler:
Jail and prison are outcomes available to a DA and the criminal justice system as a whole to provide for punishment, community safety, and justice. They are not the only tools available to a DA and they should not be relied upon to the exclusion of other tools which will reduce the number of repeat offenders, keep the community safe, and return appropriate low-level offenders back to our community as productive members of society. However, the DA’s office should not–and will not–hesitate to seek incarceration for those offenders who continue to offend despite the efforts of our criminal justice system to deter them from re-offending. Some people will continue to prey upon our community and they should be incarcerated as punishment and to keep us safe.
How can the district or state increase victim compensation?
Ethan Feldman:
The state of Colorado has a decentralized victim compensation program meaning that each judicial district has its own victim compensation program. The funds for each program throughout the state come from a surcharge that is assessed on offenders and those who commit traffic violations. All funds that are collected in each judicial district are used for crime victims in that particular judicial district. There are not any tax dollars used for the victim compensation programs throughout the state. One way to increase victim compensation funds would be to increase the amount of the surcharge that offenders and those who commit traffic currently pay; however, I do not think that with our current economic situation that would be a good course of action at this time. Colorado also receives federal victim compensation funds based upon a formula that is used throughout the country. Once again these funds are based on fines that offenders pay for violations of various federal crimes. No tax dollars are used for these federal funds either. These federal funds are used to help the local programs in each judicial district pay for medical bills, funeral expenses, and other types of expenses. In the 18th Judicial District, these federal and local funds have helped the victims of the Aurora theater shooting with some of their expenses. Colorado has a very stable victim compensation program and unlike some other states we have not had victim compensation funds cut due to reductions in state budgets since none of our funds are tax dollars. Although increasing victim compensation dollars would be a good goal, it would be challenging to do without either raising fees or seeking tax dollars, neither of which would be good solutions. As we have seen several times over, people in Colorado are very generous during times of need and donate to agencies that help provide services to victims of crime as well as funds for crime victims. That is what makes a community, people helping people.
George Brauchler:
We should focus on recovering as much compensation from wrongdoers as possible. In many cases, this process takes time, but it should not be abandoned. To cover that period of time until full restitution is made, we should explore the existing sources of grant funds available to victims from the state. Most DA’s offices have Victim Compensation Boards who use such funds to try to make victims financially whole during the time the system holds the wrongdoer financially accountable over time. Our focus should be to fix those things that can be fixed for a victim as quickly as possible. That is justice.