On November 22nd, 2011, publication WestWord ran a story on how District Attorney Carol Chambers’ war on habitual criminals has become a costly habit for taxpayers.
Under the leadership of District Attorney Carol Chambers, the entire 18th Judicial District, which includes Arapahoe, Douglas, Elbert and Lincoln counties, has become an experiment in prosecutorial overkill unlike anything else in Colorado.
Defense attorneys say that the kind of prosecutorial discretion and case-by-case review that’s expected in habitual cases has gone by the wayside since Chambers was elected in 2004. “They file habitual charges on everyone who is eligible, from the very start,” says Natalie Chase, a former prosecutor who now specializes in fighting habitual charges. “The purpose of the statute is to punish repeat, violent offenders. What Carol Chambers is doing is taking that a step further: People with simple drug-possession charges are getting habitualized. There’s no violence involved. They may have been stopped, and they have crack or cocaine on them. If you question the legality of the traffic stop, if you raise any constitutional issues, all offers are revoked and your client is facing the maximum years.”
Source: WestWord, November 22nd, 2011. Read the entire article by clicking here.