Yesterday, we reported that Denver DA Mitch Morrissey’s office had an unacceptably high rate of refusal to prosecute both felonies and felony sexual assault. We saw the so-called “ambush” of Morrissey outside his office by Channel 7 news in Denver. Morrissey’s office agreed to an off-camera interview in which Channel 7 couldn’t tape it, but the DA’s office did.
Then, something amazing happened. Channel 7 filed a Colorado Open Records Act request with the DA’s office to obtain that tape, which they did. What Morrissey says on this tape is, quite frankly, career ending (starts at about the 6-minute mark):
DA Morrisey: Denver is a lot different than a lot of parts of this country. Certainly different than places in this state. So the fact that our numbers are different, does not surprise me at all.
Channel 7: So when you say that they’re “different,” what do you mean?
DA Morrisey: There’s no LoDo in most towns in – Denver – Colorado. That’s a significant difference.
Channel 7: What does that mean?
DA Morrisey: There’s no Lower Downtown where you have a large population of young people drinking and engaging in what goes down in LoDo. You don’t find that in Greeley. You don’t find that in La Junta. You don’t find that kind of situation there.
If we’re interpreting this correctly, Morrissey is saying that rape happens because of drinking in LoDo? [Buzzer sounds] WRONG. Rape is a violent violation of women. Period. It is not a “situation”.
What’s truly terrible is that this isn’t some idiot politician saying something ignorant about rape. This is the man in charge of prosecuting rape saying something idiotic about rape and why it happens.
"Unacceptably high rate"? Unacceptable to whom? The media?
Nice try at trying to excuse his policy of only choosing the EASY cases that he can always win….Bottom line, he's not doing justice…he's scalp hunting in order to ensure his re-election…..He needs to be removed from office at the first opportunity…but he's a progressive, so he's protected by his party and will continue to do harm to the citizens of Denver.
It's apparent that Mitch Morrissey is trying to pick and choose the best cases for prosecution in order to be able to claim a high prosecution rate….If you only prosecute the cases that are 100% winnable, the stats look great for him in the next election…and the "less than 100%" cases go by the wayside….and criminals continue to prey on the citizens at an increasing rate. Morrissey is a SCALP HUNTER, pure and simple.
So….in Greeley and Ft. Collins two college towns where more alcohol is consumed per capita than at any time in Lo Do should have outrages rape statistics? I hardly think "drunk" is an excuse at all.
He probably just means that if you're drunk you are more likely to commit violent crimes (like rape). There is a link between drinking and crime. This tape certainly isn't career ending.