A U.S. District Court jury has found that Adams County Sheriff Doug Darr violated a deputy’s First Amendment right to campaign for office and awarded him more than $100,000 in damages and back pay.
The nine-member panel unanimously decided for Sgt. Mark Nicastle, who claimed Darr tried to handicap his 2010 campaign for sheriff. Darr, a Democrat, defeated Nicastle in the November election. He is serving his third term.
Nicastle said Darr tried to destroy his political career by launching two internal affairs investigations against him, making derogatory remarks about him in public and finally demoting him from lieutenant to sergeant.
“The jury was unanimous in finding the sheriff’s conduct, or misconduct, was extremely reckless and callous,” said Nicastle’s lawyer Donald Sisson.
Darr couldn’t be reached for comment earlier today.
The trial spanned six days and included testimony from Darr and Nicastle. Jurors deliberated for almost two days before delivering their verdict Thursday afternoon.
The panel awarded Nicastle $24,600 in back pay as a result of his demotion and $99,000 in damages for pain and suffering. Jurors also awarded Nicastle $1 in punitive damages, which will come out of Darr’s pocket.
U.S. District Judge Robert Blackburn will determine what attorney fees are owed to Nicastle.
Blackburn also will decide if Nicastle should be reinstated as lieutenant or be awarded front pay — the amount of additional salary he would have collected if continued to work as a lieutenant until retirement, Sisson said.
Based on the trial testimony of an economist, the front-pay settlement could range from $142,000 to $363,000, Sisson said.
Nicastle is currently on paid administrative leave from the sheriff’s department. Sisson said Nicastle would like to return to his job, but has doubts he could work under Darr.
“He has real concerns about the hostility he would encounter from his boss, the sheriff,” Sisson said.
Nicastle testified that in his nearly 30 years with the department, he had supported two of Darr’s campaigns for sheriff.
But when he told Darr he wanted to succeed him as sheriff in December 2006, Darr began retaliating against him by investigating his conduct.
The juror’s verdict sends a message that bosses cannot violate an employee’s First Amendment rights to campaign for political office, Sisson said.
“This was a home run for Mark Nicastle,” he said.
Monte Whaley: 720-929-0907 or mwhaley@denverpost.com
