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The Denver District Attorney’s Office is responsible for the prosecution of state criminal violations in the Second Judicial District.[1] Colorado has 64 counties within the 22 judicial districts in the State. Denver was originally part of Arapahoe County but became a judicial district in 1902 when the Home Rule Amendment proposed by the legislature was passed by the voters. This amendment to the Constitution of the State of Colorado, Article XX, gave limited home rule powers to incorporated Colorado cities of a certain size and created the City and County of Denver and placed it in its own separate judicial district. [2]
The Denver District Attorney’s Office has had a storied history. One of the first Second Judicial District DA’s, Isaac Stevens, made a name for himself when he successfully prosecuted Dr. Thatcher Graves for poisoning one of his patients who was visiting in Denver. She became ill and subsequently died after taking some medicine the doctor had mailed to her.[3] Stevens became editor and manager of the Colorado Springs Gazette in 1899, and an author. His works include: The Liberators: A Story of Future American Politics (1908), An American Suffragette (1911) and What is Love? (1918).
Several Denver district attorneys went on to higher office. Perhaps the most politically successful former Denver D.A. was John F. Shafroth who was elected as the District Attorney for the Second Judicial District in 1889 and, in 1891 he was elected to the U.S. House as a representative of Colorado and served two terms in that position. In 1908 he was elected Governor of the State and served two 2 year terms. In 1912 he was elected to the U.S. Senate from Colorado.[4]
Robert Wilbur Steele, a member of a prominent pioneer Colorado family, served as the Denver DA from 1892-94. Steele went on to a distinguished judicial career both as a Denver District Court judge, presiding judge of the Second Judicial District. He established a Juvenile Field Day at court, and his successor, Judge Ben B. Lindsey was known as the father of the juvenile court system, and cited Steele as an inspiration. Steele was later the Chief Justice of the Colorado Supreme Court.[5]
Greeley Whitford, after serving as Denver District Attorney from 1895 – 1896, was appointed United States Attorney for Colorado by President William McKinley. [6]
Booth Malone, District Attorney from 1898-1900, has a small historical footnote in based on his plan pitched to the Denver Police Chief on how to rid Denver of Bat Masterson, once the Sheriff of Arapahoe County, Colorado,[7] after Masterson went on a drunken shooting spree. Masterson subsequently moved to New York City where he gained fame as a boxing promoter and star of dime store novels about western lawmen.
The 1901 Homerule Municipalities, Amendment to the Constitution of the State of Colorado was also termed the “Rush Amendment” named after John A. Rush, who, subsequent to his legislative service a state senator was elected to the office of Denver District Attorney.[8]
Philip S. Van Cise was elected for one term in 1921. Known as “The Colonel,” he used military tactics to bring down gangster Lou Blonger, “The Fixer” and his "Million Dollar Bunco Ring.” Van Cise also took on the Klu Klux Klan at a time when Klan members included the mayor of Denver and the Governor of Colorado.[9] Van Cise prosecuted a number of high profile criminals and exposed the underbelly of the Klan helping loosen the Klan’s grip on political power but the fight didn’t come cheaply. Van Cise’s political career was short – he served only one term – and, his crusade almost cost him his life; he survived two attempts on his life. Van Cise’s book Fighting the Underworld was reportedly used as source material for the motion picture The Sting. [10] [11]
John A. Carroll was elected Denver DA in 1936 and served one four year term. He was subsequently appointed to be United States Attorney for Colorado and served in both the United States House of Representatives and United States Senate for Colorado.[12]
Denver DA Mike McKevitt, who gained a reputation for prosecuting “hippies” in the 1960’s was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1970 but was defeated after one term. He went on to become an assistant United States attorney general, Office of Legislation, in 1973, and counsel for the Energy Policy Office in The White House from 1973-1974.[13][14]
Notable Cases[edit]
Some of the cases of note handled by the office include one of the first plane bombing cases in U.S. history. In 1955United Airlines Flight 629 was blown up by a dynamite bomb placed in the checked baggage. The Denver District Attorney charged Denver resident, John Gilbert Graham with one count of first degree murder for the death of his mother, Daisie Eldora King, 53, who was on the plane. Graham was the beneficiary of both her will and life insurance. Denver DA Bert Keating handled the prosecution personally obtaining a confession, conviction and execution of the killer.
- ^ “Denver District Attorney Website.”
- ^ See Colorado Municipalities and Homerule Municipalities, and the “Map of Colorado’s Judicial Districts”.
- ^ New York Times (1983). “Mr. Graves Kills Himself: found dead in his cell in the jail at Denver.” Accessed December 16, 2011.
- ^ Shafroth, F.H. (2004)“John Franklin Shafroth” The Colorado Lawyer. 33(7) 15. Accessed December 15, 2011.
- ^ Erikson, W.H. (2009) [http://www.cobar.org/tcl/tcl_articles.cfm?articleid=6317 “In and Around the Bar The SideBar The Steele Story—A Part of Colorado’s History.”] The Colorado Lawyer. 33(12) 15. Accessed December 15, 2011.
- ^ Fisk Stone. (Ed.) (1918). History of Colorado. The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co. 2, 116, 118-199. "Google books.
- ^ Famous People in Arapahoe County. Accessed December 16, 2011.
- ^ Bueche, K.G. (2009) “The history of homerule.” Colorado Municipal League.] Accessed December 15, 2011.
- ^ Gonzales, M. (1999). "Racist group dominated politics in early 1920s." The Rocky Mountain News. Accessed December 16, 2011.
- ^ For more information on the Blonger gang see http://www.blongerbros.com/
- ^ Pendergast, A. (2008). “Phil Van Cise: Scourge of Denver's Underworld.” Accessed December 15, 2011.
- ^ Biographical Directory of The United States Congress “John A. Carroll.”
- ^ Biographical Directory of The United States Congress “Mike McKevitt.” Accessed December 15, 2011.
- ^ See also: Ralph Nader Congress Project. Citizens Look at Congress: James D. McKevitt, Republican Representative from Colorado. Washington, D. C.: Grossman Publishers, 1972.