State court officials knew a stolen computer was tracked to former Judge Larry Manzanares when they asked Denver police not to prosecute.
Manzanares stepped down last month as Denver city attorney after tracking software led police looking for the stolen laptop to his home.
Manzanares returned the stolen computer to the State Court Administrator’s Office on Feb. 16, the same day police contacted him. Manzanares, who served less than two months as city attorney, said he bought the computer from a man in a parking lot.
On Feb. 20, the judicial office filed a report with police to “ask that no prosecution take place at this time.”
But Assistant District Attorney Chuck Lepley overruled the request and asked for a special prosecutor to review the case.
The State Court Administrator’s Office on Thursday was quick to respond to the implication that officials gave preferential treatment to a former colleague.
Spokesman Rob McCallum said the request that the case not be prosecuted was the result of a hasty police deadline.
“The Denver Police Department was pressing us for a decision,” McCallum said, noting the computer was returned and the statement was filed on either end of a long weekend. “We had not concluded our due diligence on that computer … and we felt as though we couldn’t move forward until we had more information.”
McCallum said his office asked for more time but police officials denied it.
He said technology officials in the office planned to examine the computer to find out how it had been used. If they had found a reason to, McCallum said, they could have gone back to police and asked for prosecution.
Denver police spokesman John White did not offer a response, saying the department has a policy of not talking about an open case once it has passed the case to another agency.
The case was nearly dropped Feb. 21 when a Denver prosecutor, heeding the request of the judicial office, elected not to pursue a case.
Assistant District Attorney Lepley overruled the decision the same day and said a special prosecutor would be needed.
“Our deputy … shouldn’t have declined it,” Denver district attorney’s office spokeswoman Lynn Kimbrough said. “That decision really needs to be made by someone who is independent to make sure that there is not a conflict of interest.”
The Jefferson County district attorney’s office is reviewing the case as a special prosecutor. A spokeswoman there said it has not made a decision.
Manzanares maintained he had no idea the computer belonged to his former employer.
McCallum confirmed Thursday that the computer has no markings, labels or software to indicate it belonged to the state.
“The way we track them is by serial numbers,” he said. “Just by looking at the machine, there is no way of knowing that it belongs to anybody.”
Staff writer George Merritt can be reached at 303-954-1657 or gmerritt@denverpost.com.
