District Attorney Will Furse received a green light last week to prosecute public corruption charges against a former local lawman.
Charged with 17 felony counts of embezzlement, ex-Montezuma County Undersheriff Robin Cronk sought to disqualify the area's top prosecutor on Friday, Feb. 21, citing Furse was a victim among alleged defrauded taxpayers.
"It's a novel argument that is completely without merit," said District Court Judge Todd Plewe in denying the motion.
Public defender Katharine Whitney also argued to place a gag order on the Montezuma County Sheriff's Office. She cited that dozens of local media reports and public comments from Sheriff Dennis Spruell have all been detrimental to her client.
In open court, Plewe reviewed newly submitted defense exhibits for nearly 10 minutes, before siding with First Amendment rights.
"A high publicity case will have press coverage," Plewe said. "There's no showing of any evidence, at this time, that's affecting the defendant's right to a fair trial."
News coverage was also the basis for a defense request to change the venue of the upcoming jury trial. Whitney said "extensive and pervasive publicity" from both The Cortez Journal and The Free Press has already swayed potential jurors.
"The pretrial press has been prejudicial to Mr. Cronk," she said.
"I'm not buying the argument," Plewe replied.
In rebuttal, Furse said defense "fears and speculation" were mere "lip service."
"There's no evidence the media coverage has impacted the jury pool," he countered.
Plewe agreed, adding the criminal justice system needed informed jurors. He said potential jurors could be questioned prior to the April 21st trial date as to any outside influence or bias in the case.
Friday's 80-minute proceeding ended with Plewe scheduling an evidentiary hearing on March 20. At that hearing, Whitney indicated she intends to challenge the search warrant of her client's residence as well as statements he made to state investigators.
tbaker@cortezjournal.com