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January 29, 2018 03:11 PM UTC

Cynthia Coffman Opts To Shaft Exonerated Ex-Prisoner

  • 18 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols
Colorado Attorney General Cynthia Coffman

CBS4’s Melissa Garcia reports on a decision by Attorney General Cynthia Coffman that embroils her in a thorny prosecutorial ethics issue at a time when that may or may not help her politically in her bid for the GOP gubernatorial nomination:

Colorado Attorney General Cynthia Coffman announced late Friday her decision to oppose awarding nearly $2 million to a Denver man who was wrongfully convicted of a brutal rape and beating.

Clarence Moses-EL, 62, spent nearly three decades in prison for the 1987 attack of a woman who lived in his neighborhood.

In a 2016 re-trial, the jury found Moses-EL not guilty of the crimes.

Awarding Moses-EL with the compensation money provided for on the Colorado Exoneration Act, passed in 2013, requires the Attorney General’s approval, along with that of the prosecuting District Attorney.

So here’s the deal with Clarence Moses-EL’s case as we understand it, in part based on excellent long-running journalism about the case by Susan Greene of the Colorado Independent. In 1987, a woman was sexually assaulted in Denver, and claimed to have identified Clarence Moses-EL “in a dream” several days later as her attacker. No physical evidence linking Moses-EL to the crime was ever produced, and DNA evidence in the case was improperly disposed of by authorities. Another man even confessed to the crime before recanting. The combination of these unusual circumstances led to Moses-EL’s conviction being thrown out, and he was acquitted after a second trial for which the former Denver DA was heavily criticized for pursuing.

The new Denver DA Beth McCann did not join Attorney General Cynthia Coffman in filing a brief in opposition to Moses-EL’s request for compensation under the 2013 law providing some $70,000 per year for the wrongly imprisoned. Given the previous DA’s repeated prosecution of Moses-EL, this can be viewed as a considerable shift that we suspect wasn’t an easy sell to the staff. Nonetheless her failure to advocate on Moses-EL’s behalf is a bitter disappointment to her supporters after the issue factored heavily in her election.

But in the upcoming battle to award Clarence Moses-EL just compensation, it’s gubernatorial candidate Cynthia Coffman who will take the brunt of the controversy after having actively opposed his request. Outside the legalistic lens that prosecutors examine such cases through, the moral conclusion in this case seems unambiguous–and outside a fairly small segment of cynical and/or racist voters, we don’t see depriving this man of rightful compensation after decades behind bars selling well politically.

Except when you consider that “a small segment of cynical and/or racist voters” could accurately describe the GOP primary electorate! We’re pretty sure Cynthia Coffman knows that, and knows her feints to the left on issues like abortion are poisonous in a Republican primary. After suffering in prison to protect the Denver DA office’s reputation, a man acquitted after nearly 30 years behind bars might suffer still more–this time in the service of Cynthia Coffman’s political aspirations.

And that’s a big problem. Or at least it should be.

Comments

18 thoughts on “Cynthia Coffman Opts To Shaft Exonerated Ex-Prisoner

    1. Near the top of the long list of problems with her candidacy is this one:

      I don't think she has any idea why she is even running except Brauchler bombed out and the Powers-That-Be do not want Tank and do not trust Walker Stapleton to stop Tank.

  1. Of all the dipstick crutch phrases in journalism, the "may or may not" one irritates me the most.  So this case "may or may not" help ,Coffman.

    Uhh, that about covers the possibilities.

    By the way, Cynthia Coffman may or may not have shot John F. Kennedy.

    Mike Coffman may or may not have been the first man on the moon.

    Give me a break — or not.

    Sigh

     

  2. Next time I see Beth, dave, I'll try to mend her broken heart.

    Meanwhile you need to realize that not guilty just means the case wasn't proven beyond a reasonable doubt.   The compensation law asks for proof of actual innocence.  Separate independent reviews of the Moses el case found no such proof.

  3. Where's Norm Oily, er, Early when you want to flog him? He's the one who pressed ahead with this case based on a dream. He should bear some of the responsibility.

    1. Well, don't forget, cookie, the victim stood by her identification despite a withering and extensive cross examination.  The other guy who confessed was found not to be credible and recanted.  Not every word uttered by defense lawyers can be taken as holy writ.

        1. No.  She isn't.  She's ignoring the law, which provides compensation to innocent, wrongfully-incarcerated people like Moses-El.  And you are being a hypocrite, as usual, pounding the table with "Law and Order" when it suits you, but not, as here, when it does not.  

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