Embattled 11th Judicial District Attorney Linda Stanley took the stand Tuesday to testify in her own defense during a professional disciplinary hearing in Denver.
State regulators have accused Stanley, the sitting elected district attorney for Chaffee, Custer, Fremont and Park counties, of violating seven rules of professional conduct for attorneys.
She could lose her license to practice law if Presiding Disciplinary Judge Bryon Large and two hearing board members sustain the allegations of professional misconduct against her.
Stanley is accused of making inappropriate comments to members of the media and on a YouTube true-crime show when she prosecuted Barry Morphew for the murder of his wife in 2020, as well as failing to capably lead the district attorney’s office and attempting to retaliate against the judge presiding over the Morphew case, among other misconduct.
The Office of Attorney Regulation Counsel, which handles attorney discipline for professional misconduct, brought the allegations against Stanley in October, and the disciplinary case proceeded all the way to a two-week public hearing — which is highly unusual for a sitting district attorney.
In her testimony Tuesday, Stanley defended her comments on the YouTube show “Profiling Evil” as appropriate and denied state attorneys’ allegations that her mere appearance on the show implied Morphew was guilty or evil.
“No, absolutely not,” she said on the stand. “That is not why (the show) was named that. So no, I’m not saying anyone was evil.”
She also testified that comments she subsequently wrote on the YouTube video about the strength of the evidence in the Morphew case were written in a personal capacity, not professional.
“Obviously I have my personal photo up there, not a district attorney photo,” she said of the comments. “I am responding as a person, not as a district attorney.”
“…So as long as you use your personal picture you can say whatever you need to say to defend yourself in the Barry Morphew case?” questioned Erin Kristofco, with the Office of Attorney Regulation Counsel.
“I never said that,” Stanley responded.
Stanley charged Morphew with murder in 2021, a year after his wife, Suzanne Morphew, 49, disappeared from the family’s Chaffee County home on May 10, 2020. Stanley dropped all charges against Morphew in 2022 after her office was sanctioned for discovery violations.
Barry Morphew has maintained his innocence and is not facing any charges in connection with his wife’s death.
Lawyers from the Office of Attorney Regulation Counsel laid blame for the failed prosecution on Stanley’s poor leadership during her disciplinary hearing. On Tuesday, she defended her management style in court, saying that she did not need to specifically designate a lead prosecutor on the Morphew case.
“Your implication I needed to crown somebody with the title of lead prosecutor in order for this case to go OK doesn’t hold water,” she testified in response to questions from Kristofco. “They knew what their jobs were. I knew what their jobs were… and there was never any confusion.”
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During the at-times heated testimony, Stanley repeatedly said she was uncomfortable answering questions about her prosecution of Morphew, noting that prosecutors may re-file the charges against Morphew after his wife’s body was discovered in a shallow grave near Moffat in September.
But when asked several times about the theory of the case, she said prosecutors initially believed Morphew used a gun to shoot a tranquilizer dart at his wife, but said they later believed no gun was used.
A coroner has determined Suzanne Morphew’s death to be a homicide, finding she died with a cocktail of animal tranquilizers in her body. The investigation into Suzanne’s killing is now being handled by 12th Judicial District Attorney Anne Kelly, since her body was found in that jurisdiction.
The three-member disciplinary hearing board will consider the evidence and testimony presented in the trial-like proceeding, and issue a written ruling at a later date that will find whether the allegations against Stanley are substantiated, and if so, what sanction she’ll face.
The most severe sanction would be disbarment.
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