October 26, 2018 12:40 PM UTC

RAGA Makes Fool Of Rapist Defender George Brauchler

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• by: Colorado Pols

UPDATE: An important clarification in order via Colorado Democrats on the specific type of work Phil Weiser performed in the case for which Republicans are castigating him–not nearly as direct as George Brauchler’s personal role in getting an accused rapist at CSU off with a slap on the wrist:

In 2005, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals reached out to Phil and asked him to make a pro bono argument on a Constitutional question. That question was whether a prison’s method for calculating “good time credits” complied with the Constitution. At no point was Phil the prisoner’s criminal defense lawyer, nor did Phil “defend” any individual prisoner — the case was a civil matter. Based on Phil’s constitutional argument, a three-judge panel — including two judges appointed by Republican Presidents — agreed that the calculation method was legally suspect, and so ordered further proceedings in the case to take place at the district court. Contrary to RAGA’s smear, Phil never “defended” the individual prisoner in his criminal case, never argued that any particular prisoner was innocent of a particular crime, nor did he ever argue that a particular crime was not serious, evil, or immoral, let alone that he was “proud” of such crimes.

In contrast to Phil’s pro bono defense of the Constitution, George Brauchler spent his time in private practice getting paid to defend and reduce the sentences of admitted campus sex assailants, sex offenders apprehended near playgrounds, drunk drivers charged with seriously injuring victims, and others.

And with that, the backfire backfires all the harder on George Brauchler.

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UPDATE: In a 2010 story from the Fort Collins Coloradoan (no longer available online, retrieved from the Nexis archives), much more to this sexual assault plea deal that could spell trouble for then-defense attorney George Brauchler:

Koontz pleaded guilty to accessory to a crime, drugging a victim. If he does not remain law-abiding for the three-year sentence, he faces up to three years in prison.

Prosecutor Daniel McDonald said in court Friday that investigators were unable to determine how the woman was drugged or who drugged her. He also said based on what he believed happened in the case, the plea agreement is not appropriate. [Pols emphasis]

Had the two witnesses cooperated with investigators, McDonald said he likely would have been able to prove what he believes happened.

“He didn’t do anything to help her,” McDonald said of Koontz’s actions when he realized the woman was having seizures and hallucinating. “In fact, when he realized that, he took advantage of her.”

Why didn’t this rape victim get justice? Only George Brauchler can say for sure.

And he’s the one who went there.

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Earlier this week, the Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA), which is essentially bankrolling and operating the campaign of Republican AG candidate George Brauchler, released a new ad with heavy airplay castigating Democratic opponent Phil Weiser for his role as a pro bono counsel in a criminal case:

The Republican Attorneys General Association released a new TV advertisement in Colorado, “Unfit,” which targets Phil Weiser for representing a convicted pedophile. Weiser has only worked on a handful of cases over his career and one was defending a repeat child abuser.

“This is absolutely disqualifying. Phil Weiser represented an absolute monster, a man who preyed on kids,” said RAGA Communications Director Zack Roday. “Weiser willingly represented a twice-convicted child predator – this raises serious questions about his judgement. The people of Colorado need someone who will put the safety of children first, not a person who represents the scum of society.”

For much of the campaign against Weiser, Brauchler’s campaign has tried to portray Weiser as an inexperienced attorney. Running into some factual problems with this line of attack, the campaign has switched in recent weeks to demonizing Weiser based on criminals Weiser represented in court–sacrificing the previous argument about Weiser’s experience for the shock value of invoking awful people accused of awful things.

The only problem with that, of course, is that attorneys represent bad people as part of their job. The crimes committed by individuals defended by a lawyer do not reflect on the lawyer, as anyone with an elementary-school level knowledge of the legal system understands. In fact, if we ever get to the point in society where criminal defense lawyers are held in the same contempt as their clients, that’s a very bad development for society.

And in this case (see update above), Weiser wasn’t even the actual defense attorney. He submitted a pro bono opinion in the case.

But the more basic problem with this attack on Weiser is that it makes a hypocrite of George Brauchler.

In 2009, Denver7 reported about an arrest in a sexual assault case out of Larimer County:

A former student at Colorado State University faces multiple counts of sexual assault on a female student after a three-month investigation. William A. Koontz, 21, was arrested last month in Kentucky and transferred to Larimer County, where he was jailed Friday, the Coloradoan reported. He faces two counts of felony sexual assault in connection with the case…

The woman told police that Koontz carried her to his bedroom and sexually assaulted her while she was under the influence of some type of drug that may have been slipped in her drink. After telling Koontz, “I know what you are doing,” he pulled up his pants, according to the arrest affidavit.

In the video at the top of this post, you can hear Brauchler bragging that as a criminal defense attorney, “no client of mind has ever been convicted at trial.” According to the court papers in the case of William Koontz released by Colorado Democrats this week, that’s technically true. In a plea deal with prosecutors, Koontz pled guilty to a reduced charge in this sexual assault case, and the charges were dismissed in a “deferred prosecution” agreement.

In other words, as a defense attorney, George Brauchler got a rapist off the hook.

Obviously, if Weiser is not morally implicated for defending an criminal, than neither is Brauchler. Unfortunately for Brauchler, it’s his own backers making this an issue. You’d think that an organization like RAGA, which presumably is composed of a higher-than-average number of lawyers, would have recognized the rank hypocrisy in this ad. Or failing that, Brauchler himself might have objected knowing it makes a hypocrite of himself personally. But that didn’t happen, and if it’s fair game to suggest that Weiser is somehow tainted by the crimes of people he defended in court…

Well, George Brauchler got a rapist off the hook.