Hard Questions for the El Paso County Colorado DA

Although the scope of Todd's 35c hearing, which begins in a few hours, is narrowly focused on on constitutional issues, the citizens of Colorado Springs deserve to know how the DA's Office so badly botched the investigation of a tragic killing. Here are a couple questions I'm sure the DA doesn't want to address:

1. Why did Prosecutor Amy Mullaney rush to cut a deal with Brad Orgill--the only person seen fighting with victim Anthony Madril? Madril, according to witnesses entered into the fight enthusiastically, fought fiercely, and emerged covered in blood and saying, "I just got stabbed." Mullaney cut a deal with Orgill: He would get a few hours of community service in exchange for saying that Todd confessed. The deal was struck before the physical evidence had all been sent to the state crime lab for testing, and long before the Metro Crime Lab did a crime scene analysis.
2. Why did prosecutors let Orgill get away with violating his plea bargain? Only a few months after Mullaney struck the deal with Orgill, a nineteen-year-old woman accused Orgill of rape. Orgill claimed the sex was consensual, and, despite physical evidence, the case never went anywhere. During the investigation, however, Orgill admitted to giving his underage accuser alcohol--a clear violation of his plea agreement, which in addition to community service required that he keep his nose clean. That is, that he commit no infraction more serious than a four-point traffic ticket.

The questions asked here won't be a part of the current hearing because the law sometimes works in curious ways. They are, as Paul Harvey might have said, "The rest of the story."