A former Durango resident, convicted in 2006 of 26 felonies, including criminal libel, will leave state prison next month as the result of an agreement with 6th Judicial District Attorney’s Office.
Davis Temple Stephenson, 47, a Fort Lewis College graduate, will drop his claim that he received ineffective counsel in exchange for a reduction of his sentence. He will be released April 13 and be on supervised parole for two years.
At his trial, prosecutors said Stephenson used falsehoods to sow fear among his victims, usually figures of authority, among them jail guards, a Fort Lewis College professor, a landlord and a police officer.
Stephenson used the Internet, fake posters and phony documents to intimidate his victims, prosecutors said. He concocted an obituary saying a jail guard had died of AIDS; told the family of another guard that the guard was a member of the Man/Boy Love Association; and created a website ostensibly from an FLC professor asking men to rape her. He gave her home address.
On Friday, 6th Judicial District Judge Gregory Lyman heard from one of Stephenson’s victims by speaker phone and listened to Deputy District Attorney David Ottman read a letter from another. The victims said they understand the rationale for the agreement, but they don’t believe that Stephenson is repentant, and they believe he remains a menace to society.
Stephenson also was on speaker phone from prison.
Lyman accepted the agreement and will sign the official documents March 20.
Ottman said the agreement isn’t perfect, but that it’s fair. Otherwise, the state could lose its convictions if Stephenson were allowed to have his claims of ineffective counsel heard. Lyman noted another potential risk – the Legislature has decriminalized libel.
Stephenson will be released from Skyline Correctional Facility in Cañon City on April 13. He was sentenced to 23 years but, in reality will serve nine years – although legally, the figure is 16 years as a result of pretrial confinement and time credits earned while in prison.
“I hope you find peace and remain a free member of society,” Lyman told Stephenson.
daler@durangoherald.com
