COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) - An El Paso County judge has declined to move the upcoming trial of former county Sheriff Terry Maketa.
Maketa, who resigned in 2014, faces trial on six felony counts that include extortion.
Prosecutors say Maketa and a former undersheriff, Paula Presley, threatened to terminate a sheriff’s office contract with a company that employed a worker who allegedly had crossed Maketa.
The Gazette reports (https://bit.ly/2mYTHkQ) that District Judge Larry E. Schwartz refused the change of venue request on Friday.
Defense attorney Pamela Mackey argued that extensive media coverage has affected his chances of a fair trial.
Schwartz also denied another request to dismiss the extortion charges.
The charges allege Maketa told Correctional Healthcare Companies, Inc., the county jail’s health contractor, that he would end the $5.2 million contract if it didn’t fire employee Wendy Habert. Prosecutors say Habert, who was indeed fired, had refused to support Presley in her bid to succeed Maketa as sheriff.
Maketa’s legal team also sought investigative documents involving a possible department file about Bill Elder, a former sheriff’s supervisor who did succeed Maketa as head of the department.
The Gazette has reported that then-Sheriff Maketa accused Elder of mishandling overtime money and that Maketa also accused Elder supporters of stealing a file to help Elder’s chances of being elected.
Elder has denied being investigated by the department’s Internal Affairs unit, and sheriff’s spokeswoman Jacqueline Kirby told The Gazette there was no file.
The judge said he would decide on the defense request.
The next hearing in the case is set for April 10.
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Information from: The Gazette, https://www.gazette.com
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