Special prosecutors have asked an El Paso County district judge to dismiss two of nine criminal charges, including kidnapping and false imprisonment, against former El Paso County Sheriff Terry Maketa.
The motion was filed by District Attorney George Brauchler’s office on Tuesday, according to sources familiar with the case who spoke on condition of anonymity. Judge Larry Schwartz has imposed a gag order in the case. It was not immediately clear whether the judge has formally dismissed the charges.
Vikki Migoya, Brauchler’s spokeswoman, said because of restrictions imposed by Schwartz she could not comment about the case. Schwartz did not return phone calls.
on the same two counts, but it’s unclear whether their charges have been dismissed. Maketa, Presley and San Agustin were on various charges accusing them of governmental abuse of power.
The two charges dropped against Maketa were linked to the arrest of a woman who was a civilian employee working for a health contractor at the El Paso County jail.
Her boyfriend, a deputy, had been arrested and later fired for beating her. Maketa allegedly told the woman to recant her statement and “tell investigators that she instigated the incident in order to allow (the deputy) to get his job back,” the indictment said. He later ordered her arrest, the indictment says.
San Agustin, who is also charged with kidnapping and false imprisonment for his alleged involvement in ordering the woman’s arrest, allegedly sidestepped the departmentap normal chain of command while investigating the case, according to the indictment.
But San Agustin has denied the allegations.
“There are gaping holes in the prosecution’s indictment…,” according to a motion filed by San Agustin last year.
The motion accused investigators from the Colorado Bureau of Investigation and Brauchler’s office of prosecutorial misconduct in the case.
In San Agustin’s earlier court motion he claimed he was charged to stop him from criticizing El Paso County Sheriff Bill Elder and District Attorney Dan May for what he called apossible co-conspirators in the murder of former Colorado prisons’ chief Tom Clements. San Agustin was indicted shortly after his criticisms appeared in The Denver Post.
“The prosecution was motivated to falsely implicate Mr. San Agustin to impair his credibility regarding the Clements investigation,” the motion says.
