A judge and a prosecutor with the 18th Judicial District are being investigated for allegedly having an inappropriate relationship, The Denver Post has learned.
Prosecutor Laurie Steinman and Judge Grafton Biddle, who are no longer in their jobs, are being investigated on potential ethical improprieties, a source confirmed. Both worked in Douglas County District Court.
District Attorney Carol Chambers confirmed Thursday that Steinman, a deputy attorney, was fired last week.
She could not give a reason for Steinman’s termination because it is a personnel matter.
Biddle resigned last week, according to the Office of the State Court Administrator.
The source said the Attorney Regulation Counsel of the Colorado Supreme Court is investigating the allegation of an inappropriate relationship between the two.
John Gleason, head of the counsel, could not comment on the matter but said if a complaint was filed, his office would investigate it.
A call to Biddle’s Parker house on Thursday was answered by his wife, who said he no longer lived there.
Reached at her Greenwood Village home, Steinman said of the alleged relationship: “I know there are those rumors, but I’m not in a position to comment on that.”
Biddle, 57, was appointed in July by Gov. Bill Owens, who had said Biddle’s “respect for the law, efficient management of a busy docket, and respect for everyone who enters his courtroom will be a credit to the 18th Judicial District.”
Chambers said Steinman, 29, was hired in February and handled mostly traffic and misdemeanor cases. Chambers said she did not know of any disciplinary action against Steinman since she began working for the 18th Judicial District, which includes Arapahoe, Douglas, Elbert and Lincoln counties.
Chambers could not talk about any specifics in this case, but in general, she said, prosecutors and judges who work in the same district need to maintain their distance.
“There must be an arm’s-length relationship between any attorney and a judge in the courtroom,” she said.
Biddle was a presiding municipal judge for Centennial and a county court magistrate for the 18th Judicial District.
He has also been in private practice, in the attorney general’s and U.S. attorney’s offices, and was a deputy district attorney from 1981 to 1988, according to the governor’s office.
He was a member of the Douglas County Domestic Violence Task Force and a former Marine. Biddle received his undergraduate degree from the University of Colorado and law degree from the University of Denver.
Regina Avila of The Denver Post research library contributed to this report.
Staff writer Carlos Illescas can be reached at 303-954-1175 or cillescas@denverpost.com.
