Defending a school principal against a frivolous criminal charge: $62,000.
Paying an interim principal to run the school while the accused awaited her day in court: $32,000.
Denver’s district attorney never having to say he’s sorry: priceless.
Mitch Morrissey would have to hold the mother lode of bake sales to compensate taxpayers for the costs associated with prosecuting Nicole Veltze, principal of Skinner Middle School.
Two seventh-graders inappropriately touched a girl in a Skinner computer class in December. Veltze promptly investigated, suspended the boys and reported the incident to the school district.
Morrissey asserted that Veltze broke the law by not reporting what he deems to be a sexual assault to police. His office slapped her with a career-threatening criminal charge.
Morrissey ate crow Friday when a judge tossed the case, saying prosecutors proved no evidence of criminal wrongdoing and noting that Veltze rightly followed district rules on handling sexual harassment.
The ordeal came at great expense to Veltze. If convicted, she might never have worked again as a teacher, let alone a principal.
It came at the expense of the school, where teachers strained to explain — to the kids and themselves — how their principal could be arrested for simply acting out of common sense.
It also came at no small sum to taxpayers.
Morrissey assigned two of his most-senior deputies to prosecute the class-3 misdemeanor, among the lowest of criminal charges.
His office said it could not calculate the value in tax dollars of their work.
The case sent chills throughout Denver Public Schools, prompting nervous principals to report the most minor poking and name- calling, lest they too be charged as criminals.
One school called to report such aberrance as two 5-year-olds stealing a kiss on the playground. Another felt compelled to report a 6-year-old telling a classmate, “You have a sexy booty.”
Bring in the SWAT team.
Such calls caused a spike in the workload of Denver’s already overburdened social workers. City brass say it’s impossible to tally that cost.
“It’s been challenging,” DPS chief Michael Bennet said of the case. “It’s important that we have a shared understanding about what should be reported and when. That guidance is critical for our principals and teachers to do their job and avoid criminal prosecution.”
Bennet stood up for Veltze. He kept her on salary in a job at the district while paying a substitute to run Skinner.
In a city strapped for cash, that sum — $32,000 — would have nearly paid a starting teacher for one year. The $62,000 the district paid Veltze’s attorneys would have gone even further.
Even in criminal cases as flimsy as this one, prosecutors don’t have to compensate defendants for their legal fees.
And now, instead of backing off after its defeat Friday, Morrissey’s office is forcing Veltze to dangle, threatening to appeal the case and run the taxpayers’ tab even higher.
Hey, why not? Morrissey faces re-election unopposed.
His website touts his work teaching “public school students about the law.”
So what do Denver’s hardworking educators learn from the district attorney’s witch hunt?
Only to fear Morrissey and more of his lessons in bullheadedness and bullying.
Susan Greene writes Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Reach her at 303-954-1989 or greene@denverpost.com.
