A criminal defense attorney has been arrested and charged with intimidating a 16-year-old female witness.
Charles “Chuck” Leidner, 64, was arrested Wednesday afternoon at his home in Denver by a Douglas County sheriff’s deputy. After an initial appearance in court, he posted a $6,000 bond and was released.
Leidner is accused of making threats to the teen, whom Leidner’s client, Timothy Houser, is accused of patronizing in a 2006 child-prostitution case.
The threats against the girl allegedly were made in June.
Leidner’s case was turned over to a special prosecutor in El Paso County to avoid any conflict of interest. Houser, is being tried in Douglas County.
The special prosecutor has charged Leidner with seven counts of intimidating a witness and four counts of tampering with a witness, both Class 4 felonies.
Leidner refused to comment and referred callers to his attorney, Gary Lozow.
“Chuck Leidner is an experienced attorney who has both prosecuted and defended individuals in the criminal-justice system for over 38 years,” Lozow said.
“The accusations here involve egregious undercover efforts by the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office to intimidate a defense attorney who was doing his best to represent a client in a difficult case.
“Mr. Leidner will respond to the charges in court, rather than in orchestrated media releases,” Lozow said in a prepared statement.
Leidner is scheduled to appear in court Oct. 22.
Mike McPhee: 303-954-1409 or mmcphee@denverpost.com
