A judge ruled today that 18th Judicial District Attorney Carol Chambers’ office can still prosecute a fraud case despite a controversial bonus plan that rewarded her assistants who met a minimum conviction rate at trials in 2010.
In December, Chambers told her district court attorneys that anyone who did not take at least five cases to trial and win felony convictions in 70 percent of them would not receive bonuses in 2010 unless they could show they otherwise deserved a reward.
Criminal defense attorney David Lane argued Monday that his client Joseph Oltmann couldn’t receive a fair trial because the prosecutor stands to gain financially from winning a conviction at trial rather than plea barganing or dropping charges.
In her opinion, District Court Judge Elizabeth Weishaupl, pointed out that the case against Lane’s client, Joseph Oltmann, was filed in 2008 and is not slated for trial until later this year because of continuances.
“No evidence was presented that that the prosecution of Defendant Oltmann’s case was a factor considered by Ms. Chambers in granting bonuses in 2010,” Weishaupl wrote. “No evidence was presented that the 2010 bonus program or any future bonuses were a factor considered by the prosecutor in Defendant Oltmann’s case.”
Chambers, who took the stand Monday to defend the policy, said that she took factors other than conviction rates into account when awarding $164,000 in bonuses last year. She said that while only six of her 38 attorneys met the conviction rate threshhold, all but three deputies received bonuses.
Jessica Fender: 303-954-1244 or jfender@denverpost.com.
