Dui and Politics

[Micky Dee]

http://rockymountainnews.com/drmn/
election/article/0,1299,DRMN_36_3230720,00.html


Ad sparks backlash
Beauprez feels heat over figures used to target Jeffco DA

By Charlie Brennan, Rocky Mountain News
Colorado
October 5, 2004

A television ad and a new mailing slamming Jefferson County District Attorney Dave Thomas for his prosecution of DUI cases is triggering a rebound of criticism against his opponent, incumbent U.S. Rep. Bob Beauprez.

"Drunk driving. 265 killed in Colorado. What's done about it?" That's the question on the face of a flier mailed this week to voters in Colorado's 7th Congressional District.

On the flip side, voters get this answer: "Over 2,000 DUI plea bargains or dismissals! That's the Dave Thomas record on DUIs in a single year!"
The conclusion: "Dave Thomas has failed to fight drunk driving. He isn't ready to serve in Congress."

A TV ad that began airing Friday offers the same numbers in the same tone. The key statistic cited in the anti-Thomas broadsides, that in a single year, Jefferson County prosecutors "made a deal 73 percent of the time," is drawn from a lengthy report on Colorado DUI prosecutions that appeared in the Rocky Mountain News on Aug. 21.

But not mentioned in the ad is that in the year examined, July 1, 2002, to June 30, 2003, Boulder County led all counties in DUI plea bargains by offering deals 94 percent of the time. The statewide average, according to the same study, was 80 percent.

The article states that Jefferson County was below the state average, but that is not mentioned in the anti-Thomas handbill.
The flier's fine print reads, "Paid for by the Colorado Republican Committee."

On Saturday, Beauprez volunteers were busy at work in the congressman's Wheat Ridge campaign headquarters, preparing more than 100,000 of the fliers to mail to constituents of the 7th District, which includes portions of Jefferson, Adams and Arapahoe counties.

Larry Noble, executive director of the Center for Responsive Politics, a bipartisan, nonprofit research group in Washington, D.C., said distribution of the GOP party's ad by the Beauprez campaign was not improper, as long as it was only campaign volunteers - not Beauprez staffers - who were handling it.

That's exactly how it was done, Beauprez campaign manager Jack Stansbery said.

Thomas campaign manager Bev Noun expressed no surprise over either the content of the advertisement or the involvement of Beauprez campaign volunteers.

"Ethics is not something that Bob Beauprez has ever made a priority," Noun said. "He has been misleading voters since he made his first bid for Congress in 2002.

"He plays dirty - that's just the way he conducts business in Congress and in his campaign."

Thomas took exception to being presented as soft on drunken drivers.
"As DA, I actually have one of the lowest plea bargaining rates for DUI offenders in the entire nation - the national average is 95 percent," Thomas said.
Thomas added, "If distorting my career is the only way he thinks he can win this election, then he is demonstrating exactly what voters are sick of, in politicians and government."

Chris Gates, chairman of the Colorado Democratic Party, said it shows a lack of confidence in the Beauprez camp.
"The fact that they are going negative with this kind of attack just confirms what we've been saying, that this is going to be a very, very competitive race, and it's a dead heat right now."

Denver criminal defense lawyer Craig Skinner scoffed at the notion that Thomas' office is seen as easy pickings for defense lawyers fishing for a deal.

"Jefferson County is known by Colorado lawyers as being one of the most difficult counties to deal with, when it comes to trying to reach a plea bargain," Skinner said.

But Jordan Stoick, press spokesman for the Beauprez campaign, defended the ad's content. "Cutting deals on three out of four is dangerous, and it shows a perfect example of Dave Thomas' poor judgment as district attorney," Stoick said.
Mark Randall, chief deputy district attorney in charge of Jefferson County Court, saw the TV ad.

Randall said he is accustomed to hearing from defense lawyers that his office is considered very tough on DUI cases.
"My first reaction," he said, "was, 'Come on in, Bob, tell me how to do it better,' because I don't have enough perfect cases. I don't have enough prosecutors. I don't have enough judges, courtrooms or jail cells to do it better."

The "vast majority" of the plea-bargained Jefferson County DUIs are reduced to an offense that is still alcohol-related, he said.


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