DENVER — Two prosecutors who worked with 11th Judicial District Attorney Linda Stanley to charge Barry Morphew with murder have now been publicly censured as a punishment for complaints brought against them.
Mark Hurlbert and Robert Weiner settled a complaint filed by the Office of Attorney Regulation Counsel in response to alleged wrongdoings stemming from the Morphew case.
Hurlbert and Weiner received a public censure, a punishment described by the State of Colorado as, "A public statement issued by the Colorado Supreme Court informing the public that a lawyer committed misconduct." The two prosecutors also have to pay nearly $5,000 in administrative fees and other costs incurred during the case. In return, a hearing scheduled from Oct. 9-18 in front of the presiding disciplinary judge will be vacated.
Last month, the presiding disciplinary judge ruled that DA Linda Stanley should be disbarred after a branch of the Colorado Supreme Court found she was guilty of serious ethics violations, including misconduct in the Morphew case.
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.
Hurlbert is a former district attorney most well-known for prosecuting Kobe Bryant for an alleged sexual assault in Eagle County in 2003. He was brought on as a contract deputy district attorney to help prosecute Morphew in 2021. Weiner was working in private practice and was also brought on in July of 2021 by Stanley to help prosecute Morphew.
Hurlbert and Weiner were accused to helping launch in a secret investigation into Judge Ramsey Lama and his family to try and get retribution for the judge's rulings in the case. Court documents claim Stanley used unfounded rumors she saw on YouTube and on a Change.org petition to investigate whether Lama and his wife had conflicts of interest in the case. The team of prosecutors used investigators from the DA's office to interview Lama's ex-wife while secretly trying to get information about the family.
Stanley admitted the clandestine investigation found there was no wrongdoing by the judge. Lama is no longer a judge and is now working in private practice.
Suzanne Morphew's remains were found in 2023 near the town of Moffat in Saguache County. Charges against Barry Morphew were dropped in April of 2022 before the case went to trial. At this time, no one is facing charges in connection with Suzanne's death.
