Aurora City Council Told That Resolution Will Trample Rights of Its Citizens
DENVER – Dec. 4, 2023 — Defense attorney Casey Krizman told the Aurora City Council today that its plan to eliminate the Public Defender’s office would diminish the rights of citizens who find themselves in the city’s municipal court.
“The citizens of Aurora need to know that this proposal is not in their best interest,” Krizman said of his opposition to Council Resolution 2023-118. He addressed the council a week after it voted 5-4 in favor of the resolution on first reading. The council will take a final vote at a future meeting.
“The people the Public Defender represents are your constituents too,” Krizman testified just after council members were sworn in. “You should be appalled by how they are treated in Aurora Municipal Court.”
Krizman, who was a member of the Aurora Public Defender’s Office before establishing Krizman Law, said the city court is notorious for its tortured processes and mistreatment of defendants.
“Defense attorneys don’t want to take cases here,” he said. Low-income people charged in municipal court depend on the Public Defender to ensure their fair treatment. The experienced lawyers in the office are much more effective than any plan that includes contract attorneys would be.
The Aurora Public Defender’s office is on track to defend over 125 jury trials in 2023. The previous record was 70. “When I was at the office, I averaged two trials per month,” Krizman said. “Privately contracted attorneys simply cannot handle the workload to effectively represent their clients at trial.
“Certain council members are reacting only to the city prosecutor’s abysmal record against the Aurora Public Defenders,” Krizman added. “PDs beat 75% of the charges they defend at trial despite one of the lowest budgets in the city. The claim that this is a cost-saving initiative and not political retribution is absurd.
“The solution is not to tilt the playing field more in favor of prosecutors,” Krizman added. “The city might instead look at the dysfunction in the prosecutor’s office and the municipal court system itself.”
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