18th Judicial District Attorney:  Chambers vs Padden 

How would you run the office differently or similarly to the current district attorney?

I have worked as a prosecutor at all three levels of the justice system:  At the US Attorney’s Office, the Colorado Attorney General’s Office, and two District Attorney’s offices, for both Republican and Democratic leaders.  And before I entered public service in 2005, I was a partner at a prominent law firm, where I served as the recruiting partner. 

My leadership style has been formed as a result of all this experience, and I have spent much of my career mentoring more junior attorneys. I believe that the position of DA for a district of this size should be one of management and interaction with the community, not keeping the most high profile cases for the DA.  The DA is in charge of managing one of the largest law firms in the state, and simply cannot give that the attention it needs and deserves without being present, available, and accessible in the office and the community day in and day out. 

Additionally, I have committed to an outside audit of the prosecution data (and will make it publicly available to the extent allowed by law) so that we and the community know where we have issues with respect to inequities.  And I am committed to addressing those. 

To make our communities safer we must reduce our recidivism rates and find ways to prevent crime, not just punish it after it happens.  I would do this by finding alternatives to incarceration for nonviolent offenders, such as enhancing and growing our adult diversion program and ensuring it is equally available to all communities.  (I have heard time and time again that its existence is not well known within some of our marginalized communities, and that diversion is disproportionately offered to white defendants).  I have hands-on experience in developing and running an adult diversion program.

I would take the time and make the effort to mentor junior prosecutors, as well as to recruit a diverse workforce.  I have spent much of my 30-year career doing just that.  I’ve heard many stories that the line prosecutors lack real discretion in making charging decisions or in what kind of pleas to offer, which is both frustrating to them and to the defense bar, sometimes resulting in cases being forced to trial that could have been resolved with a reasonable offer (that the attorney assigned to the case wanted to give).  The attorneys in the office need to be trusted to be fair and must have the ability to take into account specific circumstances of each case.

Briefly explain the circumstances and outcome of a case in which you served as a prosecutor that you believe best exemplifies your fitness to serve as the district attorney of the 18th judicial district.

I was a part of the extended team on the Boston Marathon bombing case, assigned to work with the government’s counterterrorism experts and ensure the government’s compliance with discovery obligations relating to those experts.  I worked with these experts remotely from Colorado at first, but then was asked to travel to Boston to assist the team in person during the trial. While in Boston, I continued to work with these experts and prepared them for their testimony, as well as attended the interviews that defense counsel were permitted to conduct and was present during their trial testimony.

Amid increased calls for overall criminal justice reform, what new policies, if any, would you implement to make this judicial district more equitable for minority populations?

I will use my prosecutorial discretion to better reflect the values of the community. We know that lock-them-up-and-throw-away-the-key mentalities do not work.  As explained in my prior answer, we need to focus more on addressing the root causes of crime and help break the cycles of recidivism.  I will also implement comprehensive implicit bias training to avoid the unspoken disparities that exist within the criminal justice system. I will have a community outreach team to encourage the faith community, community activist groups, the immigrant communities, and the community at large to help us further identify blind spots that I cannot find alone.

Do you believe diversion programs work to reform people convicted of crimes and prevent recidivism? Do you think the 18th JD should offer more or fewer diversion programs?

Diversion programs work to reform people convicted of nonviolent crimes and they make our communities safer. Further, diversion programs reduce recidivism rates and help to prevent crime. JD18 has good diversion programs. I look forward to expanding those programs and ensuring that they are offered where appropriate and where they can help offenders rehabilitate.

As a prosecutor, what request do you have for new legislation or amended legislation by state lawmakers?

Senate Bill 15-219 required the inclusion of outside agencies in investigations, but it needs to be strengthened. Ensuring that there is increased implicit bias training is a great first step. I have favored the creation of a unit within the AG’s office to prosecute these cases, which would further eliminate any biases/conflicts (whether real or perceived) and provide uniformity among the 23 Judicial Districts around the state.  That would require a legislative change.

When I think about local tragedies, such as the death of Elijah McClain, I wonder about what would have happened had there been a co-responder program that sent mental health professionals to the scene — particularly since all Elijah was reported to have been doing was acting strangely. Elijah would likely be alive in such circumstances – and just think of the trauma to the community and the family that would have been avoided.  We need to revisit other antiquated policing policies, like citizens’ arrest (which Ahmaud Arbery’s killers were attempting to effecturing). There is no need for these where everyone has a cell phone (as did one of the perpetrators in Ahmaud’s case, who filmed the entire thing).  There is a lot of sentencing reform that has been considered and much of which I would support, as well as making it easier to expunge records for nonviolent offenses after a long period of time has passed and where there has been rehabilitation. I will work tirelessly to help address disparities and inequities within our District.