Fifth Judicial District Judge Mark Thompson (Colorado Judicial Branch)
The Colorado Supreme Court on Monday suspended a former chief judge who earlier this year lost his leadership role in the Fifth Judicial District after threatening his stepson with an AR-15-style rifle.
The justices suspended Judge Mark Thompson for 30 days without pay and publicly censured him in an opinion released Monday. Thompson pointed an AR-15-style rifle at his 22-year-old stepson's chest during an argument in July 2021.
Thompson was removed from his leadership position as chief judge for Summit, Clear Creek, Eagle and Lake counties after the incident and later pleaded guilty to misdemeanor disorderly conduct in connection with the threat, but he still serves as a judge for the district, working solely on non-criminal cases until his year-long probation ends.
The threatening incident happened while Thompson was on a "long-planned five-week sabbatical" as part of a program available to all judges in the 5th Judicial District, the state Supreme Court found. The judge was under "significant emotional strain" from both illness and death in his family and threats to his life related to his work as a judge, the justices found.
He became angry when his stepson's friend, with his stepson in the passenger seat, drove "too fast" past Thompson while he was walking his dog after dark, according to the opinion. Thompson allegedly threatened to "put a .45 through (the friend's) head" if the friend continued to drive fast, according to the opinion.
Thompson denies saying that, and also told the state Supreme Court his rifle was unloaded when he pointed it at his stepson during the argument, though he told his stepson at the time that it was loaded.
The suspension will be served from Oct. 15 to Nov. 13, according to the opinion.
Thompson, who is also an attorney, was also disciplined by the Office of Presiding Disciplinary Judge in July. He received a six-month suspension of his law license that will not take effect as long as he successfully completes a year of probation.
That's similar to the punishment he received after his criminal guilty plea. He must serve a year of unsupervised probation and the completion of anger management treatment.
"Judge Thompson regrets the harms that he has caused to his stepson and to the public's perception of the Judiciary," the opinion read. "Judge Thompson recognizes the significance of his conduct and will continue to seek ways to rebuild his relationship with his stepson and his reputation in his community."
Thompson is one of only a half-dozen of judges to be publicly disciplined in Colorado since 2010, and his censure comes as legislators are working to reform the judicial discipline system to make it more transparent and less controlled by the Colorado Supreme Court.
Other judges who faced public discipline in the last decade include Natalie Chase, who used a racial slur in conversation with a Black colleague, Laurie Booras, who called another judge "the little Mexican," Robert Rand, who made misogynistic and inappropriate comments, Lance Timbreza, who was charged with driving under the influence, and Ryan Kamada who tipped a friend off to a federal drug investigation.
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