Faced with a public spotlight and a threat for recall, 18th Judicial District Attorney Amy Padden pointed to “misinformation” about a recent kidnapping case and called for changes in legislation for dealing with incompetent offenders.

Several major recent cases — notably the death of 24-year-old Kaitlyn Weaver and attempted kidnapping by registered sex offender Soloman Galligan — in her district have forced Padden into a less-than-desirable spotlight.

Galligan, 34, was arrested in April 2024 after what police believe to have been an attempt to kidnap a young boy from the playground of Black Forest Hills Elementary School in Aurora. Prosecutors said Galligan is mentally incompetent to proceed to trial and the charges against him are expected to be dropped. 

Padden has been the punching bag for critics upset about the news, but told The Denver Gazette on Friday that a lot of misinformation about the case has led people to wrongly accuse her of something she can’t control.

State statute requires courts to drop charges in cases of incompetence, which Padden sees as a major flaw in the system in a state that lacks adequate mental health beds and funding, she said.

The defense in Galligan’s case filed the motion to dismiss, she said, and her team will file a response to that motion on Monday. 

“We are still reviewing all the information in this case,” Padden said. “If the defendant is found by the court to be incompetent and not likely to be restored to competency during the course of the proceedings, the court is required by state law to dismiss the case.”

Galligan has a “long history” of being found incompetent, Padden added, so the likely outcome is that the court will be required to dismiss. 

“This case is concerning to me, as someone who lives in this community and has family members in this community,” Padden said. 

Even before the case came to light, Padden had been looking at making changes to the competency statute, talking to legislators in Arapahoe County about the lack of mental health beds and funding in the state, she said.

“We need a better way to address people with serious mental illnesses who commit crimes than we have currently available to us under the existing statutes,” Padden said. “We either need to get more money for the civil commitments or we need to change that mandatory language back to permissive language so the court can consider the specific case.”

The backlash toward Padden on the Galligan case came in the midst of ongoing backlash about the plea deal in the  Weaver case. 

The teenager, illegally in the U.S., who hit and killed Weaver, 24, while driving 90 mph in a neighborhood and was initially charged with vehicular homicide.

At the time, then-District Attorney John Kellner promised to pursue the maximum two-year sentence in youth corrections.

After the November election, the office went to Padden. The teen was then offered two years probation, 100 hours of community service and a requirement to attend school and not break any laws.

Padden refused to specifically talk about the Weaver case since the suspect is a juvenile, but she said her decision to give a plea deal to the suspect is in line with her beliefs about the juvenile justice system.

Following the court’s decision, Aurora City Councilmember Danielle Jurinsky said she plans to launch a campaign to recall Padden, saying the plea deal was “unacceptable.”

Padden said Friday that she has not seen the petition yet. 

In order to recall an elected official like Padden, Jurinsky would need to get approval from the Secretary of State’s office to start a petition, according to the Colorado Secretary of State’s website.

The approved petition must meet a signature threshold of 25% of the total votes cast at the last preceding general election for that office, which in Padden’s case would be 75,875 valid signatures, to go to ballot. 

“That’s a heavy burden and if that’s how she wants to spend her time, she can spend her time doing that,” Padden said, adding that she is not worried after the people of Arapahoe County “overwhelmingly” elected her.

Padden was elected with 57.7% of the total 303,500 votes cast in 2024. 

Recall elections are also expensive, Padden said, especially since the petition would not align with the general election and would need to go to a special election, which would cost about $1.5 million.

“I don’t think that’s an effective use of taxpayer money,” Padden said. “I wish the councilwoman would collaborate with us to try to find some legislative solutions to the issues she’s raised rather than criticizing me for following state law that I’m required to follow.”

Jurinsky has claimed that Padden’s office has not prosecuted cases that should have been prosecuted and has been too lenient with case decisions. 

Eric Ross, the 18th Judicial District spokesperson, said he is willing to run an audit if Jurinsky gives him case numbers and defendant names she thinks needed to be handled differently, but that Jurinsky has not replied to those requests. 

Padden also countered that her office has filed almost 10,500 cases year to date, more than 1,000 more cases than were filed in the same time period in 2024.