It’s easy during election campaigns for a candidate to make promises, but what happens to those promises after the oath of office?
In the case of District Attorney Todd Risberg, who’s six years into his eight-year term-limited office, some of those promises have been easier to keep than others. And during his tenure in Colorado’s 6th Judicial District, he has not shied from controversy.
“There’s always more to do,” he said.
The Herald sat down in mid-March with Risberg at his office in the Old Post Office to see how he thinks he’s handled his first six years. Here are his responses:
Q: When running for your first term in 2008, you said you hoped to shift more cases to drug- and alcohol-rehabilitation programs rather than insisting on jail or prison time. Has that happened?
A: Most cases are drug- or alcohol-related, primarily (methamphetamine). There are so many cases that shouldn’t be in the criminal-justice system, they should be in the health-care system because they’re related to drug addiction or mental illness. (La Plata County) Drug Court is running at capacity, so we’re trying to expand it.
The big problem is that the people who end up in drug court are high-need, high-risk. They’re often the most in need of in-patient treatment, but to find a bed, it’s usually from one to six months’ wait, and it’s far away – Alamosa, Grand Junction or Denver. That’s not the best way to treat people, having them away from their families.
Q: Any other challenges with adjudicating nonviolent drug cases in drug court?
A: Housing is super tough here for people in drug court because it’s so expensive, and they have to live here when going through the drug-court process. Sometimes they end up back in with the problem they started with. A lot of the success of the court is on (La Plata County Court) Judge (Martha) Minot. She puts a lot of energy into it.
Q: Speaking of Judge Minot, you criticized her publicly when she allowed (armed robbery suspect) Logan Griffith out on personal recognizance. (Minot had not seen the arrest affidavit; 6th Judicial District Court Judge Jeffrey Wilson revoked the personal-recognizance bond and issued a $50,000 bond at Griffith’s arraignment after seeing it.) Has that harmed your relationship with her?
A: She’s the judge; she gets to make those decisions, and I disagree sometimes. At the end of the day, we’re both experienced lawyers, and we both care a lot about doing the right thing.
Q: While campaigning, you also mentioned wanting to work toward more restorative justice resolutions, where part of the sentence is apologizing to victims and making restitution. Is that happening?
A: In a lot of cases, that’s just part of the sentencing now. If the victim wants it, it’s one of the most effective tools. If you commit a crime and hurt someone, you have to sit down and hear how you harmed them. People talk about how it affected their sense of security, how it affects their sense of community.
Q: Many of the attorneys in the community were critical of the criminal charges you brought against defense attorney Brian Showalter after he didn’t immediately turn over a letter written to his client by accused first-degree murder suspect Tommy Lee Mitchell. The special prosecutor called his conduct “reprehensible,” but felt she could not prove he had legal intent to withhold evidence, and the Attorney Regulation Counsel dismissed the complaint. Do you regret taking the case to a grand jury to indict him?
A: One of the costs of the job is losing a lot of people as friends. The grand jury saw fit to indict him after seeing the evidence. In federal court, Texas, several other states, all cases go to a grand jury, and they rubber stamp an indictment. That’s not how it functions in Colorado.
Q: What do you think people don’t know about the district attorney’s job?
A: It’s primarily an administrative job. I manage a $2 million budget and a staff of 24. A lot of my time is spent trying to keep the machine running, staying on budget, writing grants, managing personnel, trying to maintain relationships, not only around this community but in Archuleta and San Juan counties, too.
Q: So you don’t spend much time in court?
A: Mostly on homicides, and we’ve had quite a run of homicides, and filling in for other people. Occasionally, I fill in for a district attorney from another district who has to recuse himself from a case, as I had to do in the Harold Nakai case in the Nicole Redhorse homicide, because I served as co-counsel for one of the other defendants in the case.”
Q: What are other changes you’ve made that you feel are working well?
A: Domestic-violence and sexual-assault cases are still difficult, but I was able to get a dedicated prosecutor for domestic violence and one for sexual assault without increasing staff. They’re with a case from start to finish, so they know the issues, build trust and have specialized training. But we’re not doctors or counselors, so Alternative Horizons and the Sexual Assault Services Organization are invaluable; we rely on them for the support and recovery systems.
And we’re one of three areas in the state where juveniles no longer come to court shackled. If there’s a reason, we still can, but kids coming to court shouldn’t arrive like that.
Q: What are your goals for the remainder of your time in office?
A: The one big project is getting an in-patient treatment facility here for people dealing with drug or alcohol issues, and that will take a lot of people, including Axis and individual care providers.
The public defender’s office has doubled in size and received more resources but has half our caseload. I’m all for zealous advocacy, and they have an important role, but there needs to be some balance. Unfortunately, they’re funded by the state, and we are funded by the counties, so I don’t know how to achieve that.
Q: Any last thoughts?
A: Part of the job is to deal with problems so the rest of the community doesn’t have to. We must be doing that, because I know people who don’t even know where the courthouse is.
abutler@ durangoherald.com
County cases 1994 to 2014 (PDF)
