November 09, 2010 08:00 AM UTC

Damn That Looks Bad, Mark Hurlbert Edition

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• by: Colorado Pols

Fifth District Attorney Mark Hurlbert, as many of you know, was a GOP candidate for Colorado Senate who was upset in his primary by “Tea Party” darling Tim Leonard (now in the process of narrowly losing the SD-16 election to Jeanne Nicholson). It’s easy to dismiss Hurlbert’s loss to Leonard as a phenomenon unique to this wacky election year.

On the other hand, maybe it’s not. Maybe Hurlbert has issues after all.

Hurlbert has tried to live down the world-famous 2003 case of NBA star Kobe Bryant’s alleged rape, Hulbert’s attempted prosecution of which collapsed under the combined attack of a relentless press and Bryant’s fearsome lawyers. And, via BoingBoing reported by the Vail newspaper, a new case isn’t going to help his reputation much. Possibly an understatement.

Colorado District Attorney Mark Hurlbert has dropped felony charges against Martin Joel Erzinger, a Morgan Stanley Smith Barney wealth manager who controls $1 billion in investments, because financial rules would require Erzinger to notify his clients that he was charged with a felony, and this would have “serious job implications” for the financier. Erzinger is facing charges for allegedly rear-ending cyclist Dr. Steven Milo, and then leaving the scene of the crime. Milo, a liver transplant surgeon, has spinal and brain injuries, disfiguring scars, and will likely be in pain for the rest of his life.

Got that? So next time you get charged with a felony, remember to tell the prosecutor it would really suck for your job if they found out about it. Your chances of a positive outcome increase dramatically if you can say, “I control $1 billion in Morgan Stanley investments.”

Even worse, Hurlbert claims he dropped the felony charges out of concern that the defendant wouldn’t be able to pay restitution–as if a guy who controls $1 billion in investments doesn’t have money in the bank? We’re trying to figure out any way to tell this story without the words “double standard”–sorry, folks. You can’t do it. This is what breeds contempt for the law.

No worries, Mr. Hurlbert, the voters will forget all about this next time you run for office. Really!