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Longtime Adams County Deputy Mark Nicastle claimed Wednesday that his old friend and boss, Adams County Sheriff Doug Darr, did everything he could to torpedo Nicastle and his plans to unseat Darr as sheriff.

“The timeline of this whole thing reeks of sabotage,” Nicastle told a jury of four women and five men. “He made himself judge, juror and executioner.”

Nicastle is suing Darr and the Adams County Sheriff’s Office in U.S. District Court, alleging Darr tried to stifle Nicastle’s First Amendment right to campaign for sheriff by hitting him with a series of disciplinary actions, suspensions and a demotion.

Nicastle also claims Darr violated his due-process rights by changing longstanding policy and personally investigating Nicastle to discourage his political career.

The county counters that Nicastle abused his privileges as a high-ranking deputy. They say Nicastle used county vehicles, cellphones and computers for personal reasons and was insubordinate. He also used foul language that prompted sexual-harassment claims, the county said.

The trial began Monday and is expected to stretch into early next week. Darr was grilled by Nicastle’s lawyers during the first two days of the trial.

Longtime Democrat Nicastle switched to the GOP in 2009 to run against Darr, who was seeking his third term in office as a Democrat. County voters in 2009 removed term limits for the sheriff.

Darr defeated Nicastle in November by garnering 50.8 percent of the vote to Nicastle’s 43.42 percent.

Nicastle considered himself a successor to Darr, whom Nicastle admired. “He’s good; he’s a smart guy,” Nicastle told jurors.

But their relationship soured after a December 2006 meeting when Nicastle told Darr he was going to run for sheriff.

Darr, at the time, wanted someone else to run and didn’t like Nicastle’s jockeying for the job, Nicastle said.

“I would say it was a heated argument,” Nicastle said.

Early in 2007, Nicastle met with a local Democratic Party official to start planning his campaign. About that time, Darr began looking into Nicastle’s activities, Nicastle said.

“I think he was taking early steps to politically hurt me,” Nicastle said.

Darr launched two internal-affairs investigations against him and publicly said Nicastle was insubordinate and guilty of sexual harassment, Nicastle said.

“The sexual-harassment charge was a constant plague for me throughout the campaign,” Nicastle said. In July 2008, Nicastle was demoted to sergeant from lieutenant.

The internal-affairs investigation never found evidence of sexual harassment, Nicastle said. He admitted he used profane language at work and, at times, used his county car for personal trips.

But its use was always with the understanding that he was “ready, willing and able” to use it in an emergency, he said.

Monte Whaley: 720-929-0907 or mwhaley@denverpost.com