Legal Commentary

When I wrote last June that "the strange case of former Denver City Attorney Larry Manzanares came to a tragic end" when he committed suicide, I was mistaken. It was not only not the end, it may have not even been the beginning of the end.

The widow of former Denver City Attorney Larry Manzanares sent a legal notice to Jefferson County on Friday that says she plans to sue the district attorney for abusing his prosecutorial authority while investigating her husband before his suicide.

Peggy Montaño, Manzanares' widow, could not be reached for comment.

Manzanares, 50, shot himself June 22 after District Attorney Scott Storey charged him with three felonies related to the theft of a computer.

Storey has received the letter of intent to sue, but he declined to comment when contacted through his spokeswoman, Pam Russell, because of the potential litigation.

An ethics complaint filed against Storey was dismissed in August after the Colorado Supreme Court Office of Attorney Regulation found no wrongdoing over his handling of the Manzanares case.

A letter of intent to sue is a first step in a civil lawsuit and has to be filed within 180 days of the purported injury. Montaño now has two years to file a lawsuit in court.

Montaño and Manzanares' brother, Stan, have said Storey publicly humiliated Manzanares during a news conference about the laptop charges, which prompted his suicide.

The theft charges came with an 80-page affidavit that indicated the laptop contained pornography that was being analyzed by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

"Statements regarding images sent to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children had no legal or factual basis and implied that Judge Manzanares possessed child pornography," the letter says. "The National Center responded that none of the images were included in its database of children."

The letter of intent to sue says damages may exceed $10 million, and that the money would go to the Larry Manzanares Scholarship Fund.

The letter says Storey, along with Chief Deputy District Attorney Mark Paulter and investigator Russell Boatright, caused damages including invasion of privacy, outrageous conduct, intentional infliction of emotional distress and wrongful death.

I don't know the facts, and can't comment on the merits of any civil lawsuit, if one is filed. Certainly, the Colorado Supreme Court's Office of Attorney Regulation made short work of the ethics complaint, but that doesn't mean that a civil suit wouldn't have a basis. It's merely a feeling I have, but that feeling is that none of this legal activity is bringing peace or healing to anyone suffering from Mr. Mazanares' death. I hope that all wounds are healed, but I doubt that any healing will be occasioned by a lawsuit, "successful" or not.