Case Title: Tooley v. DISTRICT COURT IN AND FOR SECOND JUD. DIST.

Citation: 549 P.2d 772

Docket Number: 

State: colorado

Court: Colorado Supreme Court

Date: 1976-05-10T00:00:00Z

Document:
549 P.2d 772 (1976) Dale TOOLEY, District Attorney in and for the Second Judicial District, State of Colorado, Petitioner, v. The DISTRICT COURT IN AND FOR the SECOND JUDICIAL DISTRICT, State of Colorado, and the Honorable Robert T. Kingsley, District Judge thereof, Respondents. No. 27083. Supreme Court of Colorado, En Banc. April 19, 1976. As Modified on Denial of Rehearing May 10, 1976. *773 Dale Tooley, Dist. Atty., O. Otto Moore, Asst. Dist. Atty., Thomas P. Casey, Chief App. Deputy Dist. Atty., Denver, for petitioner. Kenneth A. Padilla, Denver, for respondent The Hon. Robert T. Kingsley. Truman E. Coles, Rudolph Schware, Denver, for amici curiae. ERICKSON, Justice. This original proceeding was commenced after the district court for the Second Judicial District announced its intention to appoint a special investigator and prosecutor to review a number of criminal episodes which allegedly involved Joseph J. Cordova. The district attorney for the Second Judicial District filed a petition for writs in the nature of prohibition and mandamus. We issued a rule to show cause and now make that rule absolute. Three attorneys filed a petition in the district court seeking relief in the nature of mandamus or, alternatively, for the appointment of a special prosecutor under the provisions of section 16-5-209, C.R.S.1973, which provides: The purpose of the petition was to seek an order to be issued to the district attorney to show cause why he had not prosecuted anyone for certain crimes which were set out in the petition. Additionally, the petition requested that a special prosecutor be appointed to investigate and prosecute, if necessary, the persons who were responsible for the commission of the crimes. The petition was supported by an affidavit and various newpaper articles. The affidavit set forth that Joseph J. Cordova shot Lloyd S. Dalrymple and committed other crimes which the district attorney had not prosecuted because of Cordova's activities as a police informant. Shortly after the petition was filed in the district court, however, a felony complaint was filed against Joseph J. Cordova in the Denver county court charging him with assault in the second degree on Lloyd S. Dalrymple. The affidavit supporting the arrest warrant indicated that Dalrymple, who originally had not intended to aid the prosecution, now intended to cooperate with authorities in prosecuting Cordova. On December 3, 1975, the district attorney was ordered to appear in the district court to explain his refusal to prosecute Cordova for the crimes set forth in the affidavit which accompanied the petition. A hearing was held, and arguments were heard. The district attorney had earlier filed a motion to dismiss the petition, and at the conclusion of the arguments, the district court declared: Before a special prosecutor may be appointed, section 16-5-209, C.R.S.1973, plainly requires that the judge must make a finding "that the refusal of the prosecuting attorney to prosecute was arbitrary and capricious and without reasonable excuse." In this case, the petition, and the affidavit, related in some instances to criminal episodes that were committed in other districts *774 or counties and contained allegations which largely were unsubstantiated and were based solely upon information and belief. The petitions and the affidavit were insufficient. Furthermore, no finding was made by the district court that the district attorney was acting arbitrarily or capriciously and without reasonable excuse when he refused to prosecute Cordova prior to the time that Dalrymple agreed to cooperate in the prosecution. In light of the arrest warrant affidavit indicating the original unwillingness of the victim to testify, the initial hesitation of the district attorney in this case to file charges against Cordova does not amount to an abuse of his discretion. The American Bar Association Standards for Criminal Justice Relating to The Prosecution Function § 3.9(b) provide: "3.9 Discretion in the charging decision. The decision of the district attorney not to prosecute could have been based upon any number of factors. In our view, a district judge should not, in the absence of clear and convincing evidence that the terms of the statute have been met, substitute his judgment or discretion for that of the prosecutor in a criminal case. See Inmates of Attica Correctional Facility v. Rockefeller, 477 F.2d 375 (2d Cir. 1973). In the Attica case, the court denied a request for the appointment of a special prosecutor, stating: See Dresner v. County Court, Colo., 540 P.2d 1085 (1975); see also United States v. Cox, 342 F.2d 167 (5th Cir. 1965). Accordingly, we make the rule absolute. PRINGLE, C. J., and DAY, J., do not participate.