Morphew Murder Case Dismissed
4/19/22
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Defense attorney Iris Eytan objected to the way the case was being dismissed arguing that it should be dismissed with prejudice so Morphew would not have to face charges again down the road.
Eytan noted that in the motion to dismiss prosecutors claim that after two years they’re close to finding a body.
She said the motion to dismiss “reeks of bad faith.” Eytan said allowing the case to remain open subjects Morphew and his two daughters to more harassment.
Eytan said that all along prosecutors were ready to try Morphew for murder without ever finding a body. Eytan told Judge Lama, “Now they say a body does matter.”
In reference to the fact that Judge Lama had prohibited fourteen persons from testifying as expert witnesses for the prosecution, Eytan said it appears the DA is “judge shopping.”
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Eytan said if the prosecution disagreed with Lama’s rulings on witnesses and evidence they should have filed an appeal to the Colorado Supreme Court.
She said Lama didn’t create evidentiary problems for the prosecution, “they did this too themselves” by violating discovery rules.
In granting the motion to dismiss, Lama said Stanley didn’t have to file a ten page motion, she could have simply said they didn’t think they could get a conviction and that the investigation needs to continue. He agreed with the DA that the decision to prosecute or not is totally up to them.
The judge said there had been no bad faith on behalf of prosecutors. He said “they are respecting the court’s orders in relation to what they have or don’t have.”
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Prior to concluding the hearing Lama allowed victims associated with the case to make statements to the court.
That included comments from both of Morphew’s daughters and Suzanne Morphew’s siblings.
Morphew’s oldest daughter Mallory tearfully told the judge, “We miss our mom dearly and we know our dad did not do it. None of us deserved this. We need time to heal and find out what really happened to our mom.”
Macy Morphew added, “We’re really thankful now that we can get on with our lives.”
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Suzanne Morphew’s two brothers and sister participated by video link in the courtroom.
Andrew Moorman told the judge that he believed dismissal of the case was proper and is sorry for all the trouble it has caused for Morphew’s two daughters.
Suzanne’s sister Melinda said they have sat quietly and waited and also agreed with the DA’s decision to dismiss all charges.
She added, “We want our sister’s remains to be found and want the case to move forward.”
Brother David Moorman told the court, “We look forward to finding our sister and I look forward to that day when we can be back in this courtroom.”
