Author: Blair Miller
Former Morrison Police Department lieutenant indicted, accused of stealing $132K via police fund
GOLDEN, Colo. – A Jefferson County grand jury on Tuesday indicted a former Morrison Police Department lieutenant on 29 counts, accusing him of stealing more than $132,000 from the town over 5 years.
Anthony Paul Joiner, 38, faces charges of theft, attempting to influence a public servant, embezzlement and forgery.
It’s unclear when the department severed ties with Lt. Joiner, but he was the second in command at the town’s police department throughout the time he is accused of stealing the town’s money: from December 2010 to February 2016.
The grand jury indictment alleges that Joiner used a private fund, the 5280 Police Motors Memorial Fund, used to send officers to Washington D.C. for National Police Week, to funnel town money to his own expenses via the fund.
Some of the money Joiner is accused of funneling into the fund, then using for his own expenses, were extra duty shift wages that were owed to Morrison. The indictment alleges that Joiner billed both the town and the nearby Bandimere Speedway extra, then used some of the money for himself.
Joiner was arrested Tuesday and booked into the Jefferson County jail on a $50,000 bond. He’s first expected in court Wednesday morning.
ICE picks up man involved in Denver jail inmate’s death, says sheriff didn’t notify of release
DENVER – The Denver jail inmate whose fight with another inmate ended in the other inmate’s death is now being held by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement pending an immigration hearing.
Ricardo Daniel Lopez-Vera, 19, had an immigration detainer placed on him by ICE on July 11—a day after he was involved in a fight that left another inmate, 42-year-old William Anderson, dead.
Denver7 had not previously named Lopez-Vera as the man involved in the fight because he was not charged in Anderson’s death.
ICE says Lopez-Vera was released from the Denver jail without the Denver Sheriff Department, which runs the jail, notifying ICE he had been released.
ICE says Lopez-Vera had previous convictions for driving while ability impaired and another misdemeanor, but said it had not previously contacted him before the July 11 detainer.
He will remain in ICE custody pending his immigration hearing. ICE hasn’t said when Lopez-Vera entered the country illegally.
DPD sting leads to consumption citations for Denver Church of Cannabis leaders over 4/20 ceremony
DENVER – Three of the founders of Denver’s International Church of Cannabis were cited for public consumption of marijuana and violating the Colorado Clean Indoor Air Act for their 4/20 rally after several undercover Denver police officers were able to get inside the church’s event that day.
Steve Berke and two other founders of the newly-minted cannabis church, near Denver’s Washington Park, say the citations weren’t delivered until several days after April 20, something the Denver City Attorney’s Office confirmed. None of the other people at the ceremony were cited. Continue reading
88 percent of Colorado voter registration withdrawals are from Democrats, unaffiliated voters
DENVER – Democrats and unaffiliated voters in Colorado have made up the overwhelming majority of the people who have withdrawn their voter registrations or become confidential voters in the state in response to the Trump administration’s request for voter roll information on behalf of its controversial election integrity commission.
By the end of day Friday, 3,738 Colorado voters had withdrawn their registration, and 200 had become confidential voters—something people in Colorado can do by signing a sworn affidavit at their county clerk’s office saying they could be in danger by having their addresses made public. Continue reading
Gardner, Buck among speakers advertised for Western Conservative Summit; will Trump attend?
DENVER – The Western Conservative Summit is coming to Denver again this year, and the gathering of major conservative players is again hoping to bring out some big names for this year’s three-day event.
Though he hasn’t been confirmed to be attending yet, the summit’s organizers have been touting the possibility that President Donald Trump may appear at this year’s gathering. He spoke at last year’s event while he was still a candidate, as did Sarah Palin and a host of other Republicans.
High-profile people who “might” also show up and who have been invited include HUD Secretary Ben Carson, EPA head Scott Pruitt, the president’s chief strategist, Steve Bannon, Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, according to the event’s website. It’s unclear at this point if any will actually attend the conference.
But some high-profile Republicans from Colorado are certain to attend, according to the event’s planners: Sen. Cory Gardner and Rep. Ken Buck will be there.
The summit, hosted by the Centennial Institute and Colorado Christian University, will also host a roundtable interview involving three of the Republican candidates who have already declared their candidacy for Colorado’s governorship in 2018: Doug Robinson, George Brauchler and Victor Mitchell.
On that panel, each will get five minutes to speak about the ideas for Colorado, then will be interviewed by Colorado Politics’ Joey Bunch.
Online ads for the summit have touted Gardner as being one of the speakers, and have drawn even more questions from those on the left, as Gardner will again visit an event full of wealthy donors and political players weeks after he attended the Koch Industries convention in Colorado Springs.
The Republican senator has been chastised by Colorado Democrats since he hasn’t held an in-person town hall meeting in months and has been part of the Republican team crafting a new health care bill in the Senate.
Those calls for a town hall are unlikely to wane, nor is criticism, as weekend passes will cost $200, and daily passes will be $120 apiece. Discounts are available for some parties of 10 or more people, as well as for people under 30, veterans, active duty military, clergy, educators and CCU alumni.
More information on the event, the speakers expected to attend, and ticketing can be found here.
Colo. Sec. of State: Election integrity commission’s data request can’t verify voter roll accuracy
DENVER – A day after the White House released voter comments with unredacted personal information sent to the president’s newly-created, controversial election integrity commission, Colorado Secretary of State Wayne Williams sent a letter to the commission touting the integrity of Colorado’s elections and addressing a series of questions the commission asked in its request for voter roll information from U.S. states.
Williams said that though he is complying with the commission’s request, since he can’t lawfully provide confidential voter information, the data “can’t be used to effectively assess the accuracy of voter rolls.” Continue reading
Second Aurora police officer charged with official misconduct this week
AURORA, Colo. – Another Aurora Police Department officer has been charged with official misconduct—the second this week, though the department says the cases are unrelated.
George Brauchler, the district attorney for Colorado’s 18th Judicial District, charged Aurora Officer Lt. Leland Anthony Silver on Wednesday with one count of first-degree official misconduct—a class 2 misdemeanor. The charge came after an investigation by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation. Continue reading
Broomfield youth softball coach charged with sexually assaulting former player of his
THORNTON, Colo. – A former coach of a Broomfield youth softball team was charged Friday with sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl who was a former player of his.
Jason Lee Davis, 43, faces one count of sexual assault on a child by a person in a position of trust—a class 4 felony.
Dave Young, the district attorney for the 17th Judicial District, says the assault happened April 2 at the Margaret Carpenter Recreation Center.
A news release from the district attorney’s office says Davis previously coached the Broomfield Thunder softball team, and that the girl he’s accused of assaulting was a player on the team.
It’s unclear if the alleged assault happened while Davis was still the girl’s coach, or when he stopped coaching the team.
Davis was advised of his charges in Adams County Court on Friday, and faces an Aug. 25 preliminary hearing on the charge.
The district attorney’s office asks anyone with more information regarding Davis or the incident is asked to call Thornton police at 720-977-5069. A mugshot for Davis was not immediately available.
Colorado insurance commissioner blames Trump administration for uncertainty, 27% rate hike requests
DENVER – Colorado’s insurance commissioner is blaming the Trump administration for playing games with the health care market and saying it is causing instability in the insurance marketplace that might be to blame for large premium hike requests for operators in the state for 2018.
The Colorado Division of Insurance on Friday released the premium rate request hikes for individual and small group markets operating on Colorado’s health insurance exchange, Connect for Health Colorado, for 2018. Continue reading
More than 3,000 Colorado voters withdraw registration in response to Trump commission’s request
DENVER – More than 3,000 people in Colorado have withdrawn their voter registration and 182 people have become confidential voters over the past two weeks in response to the request from President Donald Trump’s election integrity commission for voter roll information from each U.S. state.
The Colorado Secretary of State’s Office on Thursday said 3,394 people withdrew their voter registrations from June 28 through July 13, and 182 people had become confidential voters. People can become confidential voters in Colorado by paying a fee and swearing under oath that they could be in danger if their personal information is public. Continue reading