Former District Attorney Linda Stanley made a career as an attorney for failing to file paperwork with the courts. Even before she ran for Office in 2020, she had been sanctioned by the Colorado Supreme Court for failing to recuse herself from a client she was representing when she took a new job. And then proceeded to attempt to sue the client for unpaid bills; that occurred in 2019. Despite years of being hounded by courts to file the most basic documents and share evidence with the defense, Stanley often failed to complete the work, causing cases to be dismissed or charges reduced as a punishment by the courts to encourage her to change her behavior.
Stanley is now facing the possibility of being held in contempt of court for failing to respond to the four county governments that make up the 11th Judicial District. Custer, Chaffee, Park, and Fremont Counties sued her successfully earlier this year for taking over $111,000 from public money which was used to defend herself against disbarment by the Office of Attorney Regulation Counsel. Stanley failed to respond to that lawsuit, and a default judgment was entered against Stanley for $307,264 on March 21.
Stanley never responded to the default judgment. Because Stanley owes the 11th Judicial District Attorney’s Office money, written interrogatories, which are required of a debtor, were served on May 21 by a process server. Many people in the region had speculated whether Stanley had skipped town or was still living in her cabin in Guffy. According to the Affidavit of Service filed with the process server, Stanley was located at her home in Guffy.
She had 21 days to respond to the interrogatories; however, she did not respond.
On July 1, District Court Judge Lauren Swan entered an order titled, “Requiring the judgment debtor to answer written interrogatories, or in the alternative, to appear before the court to show cause why the Judgment debtor should not be held in contempt of court.” The order states that Linda Stanley must appear before the Court on Monday, August 4, at 4:30 p.m.; otherwise, she may be held in contempt of court. In bold lettering, the order states, “FAILURE TO APPEAR ON THE DATE AND TIME INDICATED HEREIN MAY RESULT IN ISSUANCE OF A WARRANT FOR JUDGMENT DEBTOR’S ARREST.”
Stanley was elected to the Office of District Attorney riding a wave of MAGA voters who ignored the pleadings of three out of the four Republican Sheriffs of the 11th Judicial District to not elect her as District Attorney; they were all aware that she would be a disaster for justice in the region. Their predictions proved to be accurate; however, Stanley easily won the Republican Primary and the General Election in November 2020. Her marketing material primarily featured her holding or shooting firearms and did not discuss her role in the District Attorney’s Office. She lied about her experience as a law officer and as a deputy district attorney, which was revealed by her own sister and confirmed by the Tribune.
She infamously botched several murder trials, most notably the failed prosecution of Barry Morphew. During that trial, she became angered at the presiding judge, who had severely sanctioned her for failing to disclose the list of expert witnesses she intended to use at the trial. She sought advice from a group of true crime YouTubers to launch a criminal investigation into the presiding judge of the case. This action against the judge, taken without probable cause, ultimately led to her disbarment as an attorney.
The Tribune will report if Stanley responds to the show cause hearing in court on August 4.
-Jordan Hedberg
