Nov. 30--Suspended Colorado Springs police officer Sydney Huffman is the victim of prosecutors who sided with her abuser after two juries acquitted him of domestic violence, a defense attorney told a judge today.
"There's not a case that we can find in Colorado or anywhere else where the district attorney's office has turned on its victim," said Lara Marks of Denver.
Huffman, 24, faces six felony counts of attempting to influence a public official after being accused of lying about a series of alleged attacks by an ex-boyfriend, former Manitou Springs Police Officer Jarrott Martinez.
Martinez was acquitted of abuse allegations at a trial in October 2010 and again last February, but not before losing his job.
The 4th Judicial District Attorney's Office investigated Huffman after coming to believe she lied about being choked and sexually assaulted by Martinez after their relationship ended in April 2010.
Martinez has filed suit in U.S. District Court in Denver, alleging that police assisted in Huffman's "campaign of personal destruction" against him while ignoring witnesses and other evidence that could have proved his innocence.
The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages and names the city of Colorado Springs, Huffman and Colorado Springs police detective Michael Jelmo, who is accused of closely cooperating with Huffman.
In court Wednesday, Huffman's defense attorneys said they intend to request that a special prosecutor be appointed to oversee the case.
Marks and Karen Steinhauser, also of Denver, want police and the District Attorney's Office to turn over a number of documents they said will shed light on who made the decision to charge Huffman and whether that decision might have been tainted by a conflict of interest.
William Lamphere of the Colorado Springs City Attorney's Office said portions of the request were overly broad and too difficult to fulfill. Other documents, such as a police Internal Affairs report, aren't yet complete, he said.
Judge Jann P. Dubois set a Dec. 21 hearing to address discovery issues.
Martinez's latest acquittal came after Huffman told authorities that he choked her in 2010 after pulling up behind her car in north Colorado Springs and forced her to turn into a parking lot off Woodmen Road.
In a case hampered by inconsistencies, Huffman admitted on the stand that she made up the story about being forced into the parking lot.
She told jurors she agreed to meet Martinez but had been ashamed to admit it because she felt guilty for ignoring the restraining order she took out on him.
Huffman was present with her attorneys but didn't address the court.
The three-year police veteran was placed on paid leave after her June arrest. An email inquiring about her job status wasn't immediately returned by police. She is free on $20,000 bail.
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