A former Durango man who wreaked havoc on the lives of his victims by spreading elaborate lies about their characters will remain in prison after a failed attempt to get released early because of ineffective legal help.
On Thursday, 6th Judicial District Judge William Herringer rejected an agreement between a defense lawyer and local prosecutors that would have released Davis Temple Stephenson from prison immediately. Herringer doubted claims that Stephenson had ineffective counsel during his seven-day jury trial in 2006.
Stephenson, 46, was sentenced to 23 years in prison eight years ago after being found guilty of 26 felonies, including criminal libel, criminal impersonation, stalking and forgery. The crimes were committed from late 1999 into 2003. The jury deliberated seven hours to find him guilty.
The agreement stipulated that Stephenson would not pursue a motion that his original attorney was ineffective and not challenge restraining orders against him by people involved in the case.
Stephenson’s current attorney, William Fritsche, was on speaker phone from the Front Range, but Stephenson did not make an appearance.
Because he couldn’t question Stephenson in person or by phone, Herringer scheduled a new hearing on Stephenson’s motion of ineffective counsel for Aug. 18-19. He also set a pretrial hearing July 24.
Stephenson has been in Skyline Correctional Center in Cañon City since he was sentenced in April 2006 to 23 years in prison for 26 felonies committed from late 1999 into 2003. A jury deliberated seven hours to find him guilty after a seven-day trial.
The charge of criminal libel is rare and controversial.
During a three-year period, Stephenson struck fear in seven La Plata County figures of authority through false documents or website postings that besmirched their character.
Among his victims were a landlord, a corrections officer, a Fort Lewis College professor, an FLC police officer and editors of the college newspaper.
Stephenson graduated from FLC with honors in 2002 with a degree in English.
In mid-2003, Stephenson was sentenced to a year in prison for credit-card fraud. As he was being released, Stephenson was arrested on the libel, impersonation and other charges. He has been in jail or prison since May 2004.
Among the incidents that led to his conviction:
He wrote a fake obituary about a jail guard he didn’t like, saying the guard had died of AIDS. He sent it to a newspaper in Alaska. The guard was alive and well.
He created a website that led to an FLC professor receiving letters at home and office from unknown men about a “rape me” fantasy.
He sent letters to the family of a jail deputy saying the deputy was a member of the North American Man/Boy Love Association. He then directed family members to a website he had created to back up his lies.
He used forged sex-offender forms from four states to create websites to falsely accuse people of being sex offenders. He then steered the bosses and families of his targets to the websites.
In Herringer’s court Thursday, two victims said by phone that Stephenson is a dangerous man and that they fear for themselves and their loved ones.
Four people related to the case have received restraining orders against Stephenson.
Fritsche said his client’s actions were inexcusable but that Stephenson has learned his lesson.
“The price he’s paid is sufficient,” Fritsche said. “At this point, release with structured supervision is sufficient.
“He has a lot of ability, but he needs to channel it into something more productive,” he said. “He wants to work on behalf of American Indians.”
Stephenson was eligible for parole May 13, 2011. But he deferred it, Fritsche said, on the belief that he would prevail in overturning his conviction. He has a mandatory release date of Aug. 3, 2022.
daler@durangoherald.com
