Special prosecutor appointed in Ahern case

TELLURIDE — A special prosecutor has been approved to try the menacing and criminal mischief allegations against former political candidate Brian Ahern.

The district attorney’s office filed a motion for the appointment of a special prosecutor Oct. 24, which was granted Friday.

“Based upon the proceedings to date in this case, it is possible that the undersigned deputy district attorney or other deputy district attorney in the Seventh Judicial District could be a witness in this case,” Deputy District Attorney Keri Yoder wrote in the motion, which requested the special prosecutor to avoid the obvious conflict if any DDA were to be named as a witness.

Ahern was running for the statehouse when he arrested in the summer of 2006 and accused of threatening his girlfriend, to whom he has since become engaged.

Police said Ahern destroyed items in Annie Joens’ home after an argument, but Joens defended Ahern in subsequent media reports and said she intended to testify on his behalf.

The arrest came to light after Ahern’s opponent, Ray Rose, brought it up at Club 20 debates. Rose went on to soundly defeat Ahern in last fall’s elections.

Ahern claimed — and maintains — that his arrest records were illegally released by Mountain Village Police.

A mistrial in his menacing case was declared last year, but the judge ruled it had been triggered by the conduct of Ahern’s defense attorney, so he could be tried again.

Ahern disagreed and has filed several complaints against the Seventh Judicial District Attorney’s office, including so-far unsuccessful ones against Lou Mehlig, who tried the original case.

District Attorney Myrl Serra said a prosecutor from the Sixth Judicial District, out of La Plata County, would now be handling the Ahern case. Yoder’s motion specifies Craig Westberg, but it was not immediately clear whether he or another prosecutor in his office would take the case, which was set for a conference Nov. 15.

The Seventh and other regional judicial districts rely on one another to furnish special prosecutors from one district when there is a conflict in another. Westberg, district attorney in the Sixth, is the current assignment coordinator for special prosecutors in the region that includes the Seventh, Sixth, 12th and 22nd judicial districts.

But Westberg is facing legal troubles himself. Serra’s office has been appointed as special prosecutor to handle the pending case against Westberg, which alleges driving under the influence.

The Associated Press reported Westberg was arrested Oct. 10, and that he told the Durango Herald he had taken an Ambien sleeping pill.

Serra said he requested the Colorado Attorney General’s Office to appoint a prosecutor for the Westberg case, to avoid any conflicts of interest that might arise because of his professional relationship with Westberg. If the AG takes the case, Serra’s office will have nothing more to do with it.

Serra was still awaiting a decision from the attorney general on the Westberg matter Friday.