Special prosecutor takes over Willett case

ALAMOSA– Robert Willett appeared in the court of Chief District Judge Michael Gonzales on Wednesday related to charges of alleged embezzlement filed by District Attorney Alonzo Payne.

Willett, who is the former District Attorney for the San Luis Valley, appeared with his defense counsel, Joseph Maher.

Special prosecutor Henry Solano appeared for the state. Solano is the District Attorney for the Third Judicial District.

In the proceedings, Judge Gonzales reminded the court that Payne had indicated in the last hearing on April 12 that he intended to file a motion to appoint a special prosecutor. However, based on Gonzales’ description of events, that motion to appoint did not get filed in a timely manner, prompting defense counsel to file a motion for the dismissal of DA Payne’s charge against Willett.

According to Gonzales, the motion to appoint a special prosecutor was ultimately filed, and Solano was appointed to that role the day before court convened on Wednesday.

Given that defense counsel’s motion to dismiss was based upon a non-appointment of a special prosecutor and, as of Wednesday, a special prosecutor had been appointed, Gonzales said he was going to deny defense counsel’s motion to dismiss the charge.

Gonzales then asked special prosecutor Solano if he had anything to say in response to the decision to decline the motion to dismiss. Solano indicated that no, it would be faster to not dismiss the charges and keep him on as special prosecutor instead of the time it would take to refile the charge against Willett and start the process over.

“Then I am denying that motion to dismiss,” Gonzales said, quickly clarifying, “based upon the non-appointment of a special prosecutor.”

Gonzales bound the case over from county court to district court, where he will preside, as well. Maher indicted that Robert Willett will plead not guilty.

In setting the date for the next court appearance, Maher requested a date in the first part of June, adding that he thinks “we can move through this pretty quickly.”

Solano said he had spoken to Maher and understands that “time is of the essence.” He also informed the court that he would be prosecuting the case instead of giving it to one of his deputy DAs.

The desire to move through the case in a timely manner is tied to events that happened before the charge was filed by Payne.

Following an appointment by Governor Polis, Robert Willett was the former District Attorney for the 12th Judicial District. Alonzo Payne challenged him in the Democratic Primary in 2020 and, in what is described by some as a “surprise upset”, received the party’s nomination. As there was no Republican running, Payne was elected to office by the primary process.

Since being in office, multiple complaints have been filed against the district attorney and his office for violating the Victim Rights Act (VRA). At least four of those complaints have been confirmed by the Special Advisory Board charged with investigating VRA complaints, resulting in Payne being the subject of an investigation by the Attorney General’s office for substantiated violations.

These complaints, plus allegations of failing to prosecute felony cases and “incompetence in fulfilling his duties”, led to Payne being the subject of a current, intensive recall campaign organized by the Alamosa City Council with the public support of numerous other elected officials and organizations in the San Luis Valley.

Robert Willett, who is now a deputy district attorney with the Fourth Judicial District, has indicated he is interested in running for district attorney of the Twelfth Judicial should the recall be successful.

Payne’s allegation of embezzlement is related to actions Payne alleges the former district attorney took while in his last days of office. No specifics in the case other than a date and description of the statute are contained in the arresting documents maintained and made available to the public by the court.

Although the alleged offense is described by Payne as taking place in December of 2020, Payne did not file the charge until March of 2022, a day after city council passed an ordinance allowing the city to allocate $10,000 of city funds to organizing the campaign to recall Payne.

After approval by the Secretary of State (S0S) of their petition to recall Payne, which was granted in the first part of April, the city has, by law, 60 days to collect 4,000 signatures on petitions.

As of Thursday, 3,395 signatures have been collected.

Payne has potential legal troubles of his own as, on Friday, he was scheduled to appear in court related to a Contempt of Court citation issued by District Judge Amanda Hopkins related to failure to meet deadlines she set in her court as well as questions about potential violations of the Victim Rights Act in a domestic violence case Payne dismissed.

That case is being prosecuted by Nancy Lake, county attorney for Rio Grande County. She has indicated that she is seeking a Punitive Contempt of Court ruling. If she is successful, that could potentially result in a six-month sentence for Payne in the county jail.

The date for Robert Willett’s next hearing is set for June 1 at 10:00 a.m.


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