As previously reported in the Tribune, when the three counties of Fremont, Chaffee, and Custer sued Linda Stanley in civil District Court on December 5, they were required to serve her the paperwork of the filed lawsuit. However, Linda Stanley was able to avoid being served for nine days as process servers failed to locate her. Civil lawsuits cannot start until all parties are made aware of the litigation and acknowledge the pending legal action.
That changed on Saturday, December 14, when a private process server was able to hand the lawsuit to Stanley at her cabin in Park County. However, according to Fremont County Commissioner Kevin Grantham, Stanley did not sign the process server documents acknowledging receipt of the lawsuit. At first, she pretended that she was not Linda Stanley, and when given the documents, she instead threw the lawsuit handed to her in the dirt.
According to the “Affidavit of Service” filed with the District Court on Tuesday, December 17, Jonathan K. Martinez, a private process server, stated that he arrived at her cabin and, “Observed a female individual walking out of the front door of the cabin and a Blue Healer or Australian Shepherd dog running near and around her. The individual walked over to a white BMW, which was parked in front of the cabin, and opened the car door. I parked my vehicle behind the white BMW vehicle, and then the individual then walked over to my vehicle. At this point, I determined this individual matched the multiple photographs I viewed of Ms. Stanley. I addressed Ms. Stanley and explained to her that I am a private process server and handed her the aforementioned documents, which she accepted into her hand.”
Generally, when a person is served, they sign a document that states they accepted the service of the papers. But, in this case, it appears Stanley threw the documents and walked away.
However, this is considered a successful service of a lawsuit, and Stanley now has 21 days to file a response to the lawsuit with the court. In most civil cases, once a lawsuit is filed, an attorney will be hired and request an extension of two to three weeks to file a response as they get acquainted with the case. It is a matter of professional courtesy between attorneys to grant an extension if requested at the start of a lawsuit.
With that said, it is not clear that Stanley intends to hire a lawyer now that she is a disbarred attorney, and if she does not file a response in 21 days, a default judgment may be made against her.
The lawsuit against her is asking for triple the amount they claim she inappropriately took from the District Attorney’s budget to defend herself unsuccessfully from the Colorado Office of Attorney Regulation that disbarred her, amounting to $111,971.35. The lawsuit by the three counties asks the court, through a jury trial, to triple the amount for damages, which totals $335,914.05.
In addition, the three counties are still investigating other items that Linda Stanley might have taken. It appears she took office furniture, made bids on vehicles, and might have used the credit cards of Deputy District Attornies who had left the Office. As Commissioner Granthem stated, “The taxpayers are owed money, and we are going to go after it.”
– Jordan Hedberg
To fully understand the Linda Stanley story, read this history of how YouTubers encouraged her to take action against a judge who ended her career. “How true crime YouTubers may cost three Colorado prosecutors their professions.”