Colorado district attorney removed from office

Former 11th Judicial District Attorney Linda Stanley was officially disbarred Friday, effective immediately, by the Colorado Supreme Court.

CHAFFEE COUNTY, Colo. — 11th Judicial District Attorney Linda Stanley was officially removed from office Friday after a branch of the Colorado Supreme Court ordered that she be disbarred. Stanley cannot be a district attorney if she does not have a law license.

The order issued on Friday removes her from office effective immediately and says she must not engage in the practice of law or aid others in the practice of law in Colorado. Within 14 days of Friday’s ruling, Stanley is required to file an affidavit confirming her compliance with the order.

The 11th Judicial District Court filled the position temporarily with Jeff Lindsey to finish out Stanley’s term until January. Lindsey is also the only candidate running for the position in the November election and is expected to take the role of District Attorney for Fremont, Chafee, Custer and Park counties permanently when the new term starts in early 2025.

Stanley lost her law license when she was disbarred in September following a disciplinary hearing in June. She had appealed the decision, arguing in part that she needed the job to help pay the legal bills and fines that will come with her disbarment.

A panel under the Colorado Supreme Court ruled in an 83-page decision that Stanley can’t practice law in Colorado anymore. She was disbarred for a long list of ethical violations, many of which stemmed from her handling of the high-profile Suzanne Morphew murder.

Stanley brought murder charges against Barry Morphew in 2021 after his wife Suzanne went missing from their home in Chaffee County on Mother’s Day of 2020. Stanley was accused of withholding evidence from prosecutors, launching a secret investigation into the judge on the case, and talking to journalists and true-crime podcasters about other cases she was prosecuting.

Last month, Stanley filed a motion to stay her disbarment pending her appeal in the case, which was denied. She asked the court to stay her disbarment until Jan. 14, when her term ended. She previously asked the judge to delay her disbarment.

Mark Hurlbert and Robert Weiner, two prosecutors who worked with Stanley to charge Morphew, settled a complaint by the Office of Attorney Regulation Counsel last month that was filed in response to alleged wrongdoings stemming from the Morphew case.

Barry Morphew filed a civil lawsuit against Chaffee County, prosecutors, Colorado Bureau of Investigation employees and FBI employees seeking $15 million over what he claimed was “malicious prosecution.” That suit was dismissed by a U.S. District Court judge in September.

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