San Luis Valley District Attorney Alonzo Payne is in the eye of a storm, a controversy that has been building in his 12^th Judicial District since he took office a year and a half ago.

Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser, who on Tuesday announced that his seven month investigation into nine complaints from crime victims into Payne’s alleged mistreatment has been completed, said the probe revealed complaints so severe they are unprecedented in the state of Colorado.

The seven-month investigation not only confirmed the allegations but that Payne did not do anything about them.

“It says to me that the lack of compliance in this case is deeply problematic happening in the face of prior efforts to do something about it,” Weiser said.

In a statement, Weiser said in some instances, Payne’s office “may even have placed victims’ safety at risk.”  

Under the agreement, an outside independent monitor will oversee Payne’s office’s compliance with the Victim Rights Act and the Colorado Constitution. The state will choose the independent monitor, who will be funded by the district attorney’s office. Payne’s office must provide full access to its documents and personnel to the monitor.

In addition, Payne’s office must create a new policy that ensures it communicates with crime victims and with law enforcement related to cases which arise in the district. That agreement will last for three years or six months after a new DA takes office, “whichever comes first,” according Weiser.

In addition, the office must also:

• Adopt new mandatory training for employees to ensure compliance with new policies and procedures
• Revise the office’s website, create new informational materials, and notify victims of their VRA rights
• Hold quarterly meetings with staff and others, including law enforcement, to improve communication about VRA compliance and operations relating to VRA cases

During its investigation, Weiser’s office found that the vast six-county 12^th Judicial District, Payne and his staff routinely failed to communicate with victims about their cases, failed to consult with them about plea deals and case dismissals, and generally not treated them with dignity.

One of those victims, Lani Welch, felt so strongly about Payne’s dismissal of her opinion in a case against her ex-fiancée that she started a recall campaign against the district attorney.

Of 4,557 signatures collected in that effort, 3,796 were verified.

Payne did not respond to the recall petition by last Friday. Under the process, he now has until Wednesday at the close of business day to step down from office. 

If he doesn’t, Thursday Governor Polis is expected to set a date for a recall election, which must happen within a 30-60 day time period.

The recall effort is separate from Weiser’s investigation. 

Payne, a San Luis Valley native who has been the top law enforcement officer there for a year and a half, did not respond to a request for comment. He ran for office on a platform of criminal justice reform, opposed mass incarceration, and argued the poor are all too often criminalized because they couldn’t afford an attorney to represent them.

He was endorsed by Bernie Sanders in June 2020 as a criminal justice reformer.

He has not had the support of most of the area’s law enforcement.

Frustrated with the lack of action on the work his officers have been doing to eradicate rampant drug use in the city of Alamosa, Police Chief Kenny Anderson told City Council this spring that his officers had compiled evidence of over 50 drug busts, but that none of them had been tried.  At one point, he paused to wipe back tears as he told the story about a middle-schooler who had been bullied and eventually took his life as arrest documents, he said, sat on Payne’s desk.

Exasperated citizens complained of drug deals being made in what used to be safe neighborhoods and of the violence that tends to accompany the narcotics world getting too close for comfort.

The San Luis Valley has one of the highest incarceration rates in the country. Payne oversees six counties: Alamosa, Saguache, Conejos, Costilla, Mineral and Rio Grande.

In March, the Alamosa City Council voted to pitch in $10,000 in taxpayer dollars to support the recall. Mayor Ty Coleman told The Gazette he is looking forward to moving forward with the recall now that the number of signatures have been verified and added that Payne has “caused serious harm” to the citizens of the San Luis Valley.

A recall effort has been successful only one time in the entire history Colorado.

In December 2005, 9^th Judicial District DA Colleen Truden was recalled and replaced by one of her employees, Martin Beeson, according to Tom Raynes, Executive Director for the Colorado District Attorney’s Council.

Truden served Pitken and Rio Blanco counties for just 11 months before she was forced to step down. A former judge, voters were displeased with her because of her lack of experience as a prosecutor, for overspending her budget and for hiring her husband to work on the county office computer system. She defended herself, however, touting her work on felony filings and convictions.

Emily Tofte, Executive Director of Rocky Mountain Victim Law Center, told The Gazette that additional victims may be come forward. The group works on Victims’ Rights Act complaints and sends them on to the Attorney General’s office. 

In a statement, Weiser said by “excluding, disregarding, and disrespecting victims, District Attorney Payne and his office dishonored crime victims, and worse, compounded the trauma suffered from the crimes committed against them.”

“Because the district attorney’s office failed to allow victims’ input and consultation during the justice process as required by law, those victims lost the chance to contribute to just outcomes in their cases,” he said.  

Welch said she was not notified of the agreement that the AG’s office made with Payne. 

“This is just a waste of time,” she said. “This man needs to be removed from office. He’s been given too many chances. He has broken the law and needs to go to trial.” 

Because the district attorney’s office failed to allow victims’ input and consultation during the justice process as required by law, those victims lost the chance to contribute to just outcomes in their cases. In some instances, the office may even have placed victims’ safety at risk,” Attorney General Phil Weiser said.