A Durango man charged with having illegal structure on public property was found guilty by a jury of six residents in the city of Durango’s first municipal jury trial in at least 24 years this week.
The trial lasted most of the day Wednesday and was held at City Hall in the council chambers, which were reorganized to accommodate the proceedings, said Mark Morgan, city attorney.
The guilty verdict reached by six residents is a sign the community backs the city’s efforts to enforce its municipal code, which some residents told Morgan hasn’t been apparent, he said.
The man found guilty of having illegal structure on public property is named Elliott Long, according to municipal court dockets.
Morgan said city officials, police and code enforcement officers had tried through the month of January to get Long to remove the structure, which was made of various materials screwed together atop a wooden pallet foundation, along the banks of the Animas River. Despite repeated requests to pack it up and move along, the man didn’t comply.
Long was charged with having illegal structure on public property. He had an attorney and wanted to go to trial, so that’s what happened, Morgan said.
A sentencing hearing hasn’t been scheduled, and his sentence will be up to the judge. But Long still has the opportunity to appeal the verdict, Morgan said. The municipal court has the authority to jail people found guilty for up to 364 days and issue fines of up to $2,000.
“Those are the maximum penalties, of course, and that is generally not what you would expect the court to do in a case like this,” he said.
Morgan said the verdict shows that residents back up the city’s efforts to crack down on municipal code violations such as trespassing, public urination, illegal camping and illegal structures on public property – activities often associated with homelessness.
In a presentation to City Council earlier this month, Deck Shaline, a commander at Durango Police Department, said police have noticed a rise in calls for service regarding such nuisance crimes.
Morgan said the structure wasn’t a home, but Long’s defense attorney tried to make the trial about the community’s unhoused. The city argued that it isn't targeting the homeless, but targeting the statute that says encroaching on city property will be first met with a warning and opportunity for correction, and next with a citation.
“The testimony was that shipping pallets had been used to create a foundation. And then it was kind of a hodgepodge of other materials,” he said. “What was significant was that it required tools to disassemble it. The thing had been screwed together and everything else. That’s why we didn’t pursue it as illegal camping case. It was actually a structure.”
Morgan said the trial went well, especially considering the procedure hasn’t been practiced by the city in over two decades.
“It’s a little complicated to put on a jury trial at City Hall. The facility itself doesn’t really lend itself to it. It’s not a courtroom, it’s a council chamber. But we made it work,” he said.
The municipal judge was seated on the City Council dais in the council chambers. Witnesses were seated next to the judge and the jury pool was given chairs in the middle of the chambers, he said. Tables were moved around for attorneys to use and Long, the defendant, was given a place to sit. A small conference room in the back of City Hall was used as a jury pool room.
He said the city easily has more than 100 municipal cases pending at any one time, many of which related to parking and traffic citations and nuisance crimes.
“I’m just really impressed with the dedication of the staff, the councilors and the members of the community to support Durango and support what the government is doing,” he said. “That makes it easy when you have a whole team behind you. You can move pretty quickly, and that’s what we’ve been doing.”
In a news release from the city, Morgan is credited with turning the city attorney’s office around in short time. Within 50 days on the job, he managed to fully staff the department with a full-time paralegal and assistant city attorney, a part-time assistant city prosecutor and outside counsel for special cases.
“There is easily over 100 years of municipal legal experience now serving the city of Durango,” the release says.
Morgan said he met with his assembled team and reviewed community concerns that the city isn’t being responsive to issues and people aren’t facing consequences for violating municipal code.
He said it isn’t acceptable to avoid jury trials, the city has the ability to do them and the attorney’s office will not be intimidated.
As for this week’s jury trial, the release said the guilty verdict “sends a message that the community is prepared to support the city’s enforcement efforts and hold individuals that violate the city code accountable.”
Other legal activities Morgan is undertaking include a new agenda format for City Council meetings that increases efficiency and transparency and streamlines legislation; the modernization of online municipal court document processing and integration with DPD’s new e-ticketing program; and witness training for DPD officers for testifying at court hearings.
cburney@durangoherald.com
