Morse’s Letter To Chief Myers
July 14, 2008
Chief Richard Myers705 S. Nevada AvenueColorado Springs, CO 80903
Dear Chief Myers,
I am formally requesting that your Department conduct an investigation into the actions of 4th Judicial District Attorney John Newsome and if the investigation warrants that you find or work with me to find a prosecutor to file the appropriate felony charges against him.
On June 24, 2008, the Gazette in Colorado Springs reported that Newsome accompanied a homicide detective to South Bend Indiana last October to conduct an interview related to the homicide of a police officer. Newsome and the detective arrived on Wednesday, October 17, 2007, and returned on Sunday, October 21, 2007. Coincidently, Newsome’s alma mater, University of Southern California, was in South Bend on Saturday, October 20, 2007, to play a football game against Notre Dame. Newsome obtained tickets to the game prior to the trip.
The homicide related interviews were completed by Friday. Apparently Newsome requested per diem and other expenses before leaving on the trip and included all five days. Upon returning it appears, although additional investigation here is warranted, that he billed the county for hotel, rental car and per diem for all five days for him and for all five days for the detective. Newsome’s portion of the expenses were reported by the Gazette as $699.
On April 1, 2008, one of the local television stations obtained copies of all Newsome’s expense reports through a CORA and discovered this matter. They executed the CORA as follow up to an undercover report they completed that captured Newsome consuming approximately 134 ounces of beer in two sessions separated by a brief return to work and then climbing into his County owned SUV and driving home.
On April 24, 2008, Newsome repaid the County $584.90 related to this October trip.
In my view, Newsome committed a felony by using public money for private purposes. The law is 18-8-407-Embezzlement of public property, and is reproduced here in its entirety.
1) Every public servant who lawfully or unlawfully comes into possession of any public moneys or public property of whatever description, being the property of the state or of any political subdivision of the state, and who knowingly converts any of such public moneys or property to his own use or to any use other than the public use authorized by law is guilty of embezzlement of public property. Every person convicted under the provisions of this section shall be forever thereafter ineligible and disqualified from being a member of the general assembly of this state or from holding any office of trust or profit in this state.
2) Embezzlement of public property is a class 5 felony (emphasis added).
18-8-407, sets a high standard of conduct for public servants as, in my view, it should. There is no requirement concerning intent. It requires simply that public resources be separate from private resources each and every time in every amount.
In this case Newsome acted inappropriately and I think in direct violation of this statute. According to the Gazette, this is the first time he has ever accompanied a detective for an interview on a homicide investigation. His argument will be, no doubt, that this was a case involving the murder of a police officer and the first time such an out of town interview was needed in such a case during his tenure as District Attorney.
We can dally over this point, but as you, I know the detective in question personally. At the point of this interview, he was probably the most senior and the most competent in the Department. He did not need supervision; this was an opportunity to be in South Bend for the game.
By itself, accompanying a detective on an out of town interview does not make this wrong nor does it make it a violation of the statute, but the billing does. The interviews were done by Friday night. The pair should have flown home that night and saved the taxpayers the expense of staying in town Friday and Saturday night. Since they were already in town they could have stopped running the meter on the taxpayer’s dime and paid for themselves all the expenses incurred from Friday night when they should have left until they returned home, but they didn’t.
It appears to me that they left the meter running and billed the taxpayers accordingly-to the tune of continuing to claim that they were due per diem for Saturday while attending a football game and attending to no government business and Sunday, as a travel day. The only reason Sunday was a travel day was because they did not go home on Friday when they should have-but for the game.
What happened here is that Newsome converted public funds, those used to reimburse county employees and elected officials for bone fide government travel, into his private use-paying for expenses related to attending a football game. Under 18-8-407, this is a felony. When Newsome paid the county $584.90, it was restitution. He may owe more, the investigation should reveal that, and while restitution is a necessary part of our criminal justice system, it is not the only part-there is still the matter of People v. Newsome in this case.
When corporate executives travel personally on the corporate dime it is unethical. When public officials do it, it is illegal-as outlined in 18-8-407.
Interestingly, Colorado Springs has already had a case similar to this one. It involved a City Councilman named Charles Wingate. He was having financial difficulty and as a result he charged personal expenses on his City credit card and repaid them when he could. When this came to light he chose not to resign. The District Attorney at the time, Newsome’s predecessor, filed charges and obtained a conviction, in that case.
Again, respectfully, I request that your Department conduct an investigation into the actions Newsome and if the investigation confirms the facts above that you find or work with to find a prosecutor so that the appropriate class five felony charge or charges may be filed against him. I am as always,
Sincerely yours,
Senator John P. Morse
