Former jail commander not required to relinquish firearms, court rules

Capt. Ed Aber with the La Plata County Sheriffs Office in December 2022. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald file)

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Capt. Ed Aber with the La Plata County Sheriffs Office in December 2022. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald file)

The former La Plata County Jail commander accused of secretly watching strip-search videos of 117 female inmates will not have to relinquish his firearms during legal proceedings, a judge ruled Monday.

The hearing before County Judge Richard Schmittel was requested by victims who feared the former jail commander might use his firearms to harm them or himself.

An arrest affidavit said Aber had expressed suicidal ideation and attempted suicide in 2024 during investigations into previous alleged misconduct.

“He’s not feeling suicidal. He’s feeling like he has people to help him,” said his Durango defense lawyer Barrie Newberger King.

Newberger King argued that firearm protection measures under state law do not apply in this case because they pertain specifically to victims of domestic abuse who have been physically threatened. She said Aber has not verbally or physically threatened any alleged victims, nor has he violated protection orders put in place last month – making the cited law nonapplicable.

Newberger King said Aber needs protection due to “the community’s history of vigilant(ism)” and what she described as media scrutiny.

She said the allegations against her client are “based on one law enforcement officer’s opinion” and described the arrest affidavit as “at least misleading, if not in parts untrue.”

She called the case “an uphill battle” for prosecutors.

One of the alleged victims, Suzanne Garcia, told the court she was afraid to leave her home and go out into the community – including to go to work – out of concern that Aber might use his firearms against victims.

“Mr. Aber, by virtue of his position of power, knows where I live,” Garcia said. “He knows where the other 116 women live, and I don’t feel comfortable in my own community.”

Newberger King said Aber has not had access to such information since 2024, when he resigned his position at the jail following a misconduct investigation, and would have had no reason to retain the addresses of the alleged victims.

Judge Schmittel, after a brief recess to consider the arguments, denied the motion to amend the protection order to require Aber relinquish his firearms. He said the District Attorney’s Office did not request such an order at the initial protection hearing, and that he “cannot issue an order in which (he) does not have a legal basis to do so.”

Schmittel said he may reconsider the motion if future allegations arise related to threats of harm.

A pretrial hearing – in which prosecutors must present probable cause that a crime was committed and that the defendant is connected to it – had been scheduled for Oct. 13. Instead, attorneys will use that date to reschedule a preliminary hearing.

Newberger King said the case involves a considerable amount of discovery and she needs more time to review the evidence. Prosecutors did not oppose rescheduling the hearing.

Aber is suspected of unlawfully viewing the strip-search videos of 117 women on more than 3,000 occasions for his own sexual gratification over nearly five years, according to an arrest affidavit filed by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation. He faces 117 counts of invasion of privacy for sexual gratification, all misdemeanors.

epond@durangoherald.com