Defendants / Attorneys
Discovery
The procedure for obtaining discovery is as follows: For Attorneys of Record – Upon filing and receipt of an Entry of Appearance from counsel, discovery will be provided to the attorney. One free copy of discovery is provided. For unrepresented defendants (“pro se”) – If you are a defendant in a case and you have chosen not to have an attorney represent you, you can still get your discovery material (police reports, witness statements etc). You will need to follow the instructions and complete and submit our “Discovery Request Form”. Please understand that if you have an attorney you must go through that attorney to obtain your discovery, and that our office can only provide one copy of the discovery at no charge. Some of the discovery will be in hard copy form (documents), and digitized materials like videos and audios may be provided through a link emailed to defense counsel.
If you have questions about the process, contact the Administrative Assistant in the county where the case is pending:
- Grand County – 970-725-3371 grand14@14da.org
- Routt County – 970-870-5200 routt14@14da.org
- Moffat County – 970-824-7041 moffat@14da.org
The time it takes to for you to receive discovery depends on the complexity of the material involved and when that material is received by us from the investigating law enforcement agency. Generally, discovery is provided to the defense within 14 days of the request, often sooner.
On probation violations the discovery process is much more limited. Any defendant seeking discovery in a probation violation should first refer to the discovery materials originally provided in the case, and request a copy of the Probation Revocation Complaint from their probation officer.
Court Scheduling
If you want to move a court date, or appear at a court date by telephone, you must make that request in writing to the Court – our office cannot authorize changes to the court’s schedule. Attorneys wishing to waive their client’s appearance for a court date must do the same, for the same reason.
Case Assignments
The cases in each county office are divided among multiple docket prosecutors. In addition, the District Attorney and Assistant District Attorney carry a caseload of select high-priority or major cases. Currently, the docket responsibilities are as follows:
Grand County
- Misdemeanor and traffic cases: Deputy District Attorney Makena Granger
- Felonies: Chief Deputy District Attorney Kathryn Dowdell
Routt County
- Misdemeanors and Traffic: Deputy District Attorney David Maris
- Felonies: Deputy District Attorney Melinda Carlson
Moffat County
- Misdemeanor and traffic cases: Deputy District Attorney Zach Rosen
- Felonies, defendant last name begins A – I: Deputy District Attorney Sara Smith
- Felonies, defendant last name begins J – Z: Deputy District Attorney James Hesson
All felony sexual assault cases and homicides are handled by two attorneys, including District Attorney Matt Karzen or Assistant District Attorney Matthew J.W. Tjosvold, as well as the Deputy District Attorney who would normally have the case based on the docket assignments above.