By Billie Stanton Anleu
The Gazette
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Douglas Bruce conceivably could have violated terms of his probation soon after it began in June 2012, but not until this year did the Denver Adult Probation Department file complaints about his suspected lapses.
The department’s accusations came after media reports on Bruce’s property transfer to Colorado Springs Councilwoman Helen Collins, who became the target of an ethics investigation.
Bruce is supposed to report to his probation officer whenever he takes on a financial obligation or debt. He’s bought at least two dozen properties out-of-state since his release from jail and racked up about $63,000 in overdue property taxes, code violation fines and liens.
If he reported those activities to his probation officer, the failure to pay fines and taxes could have prompted action. If not, why didn’t the department respond sooner?
Probation officers are “terribly overworked” and often don’t have time to investigate the people in their charge, said H. Michael Steinberg, a Denver-based criminal defense lawyer and expert on probation violation.
“They put the onus on the person on probation to report,” Steinberg said. “They don’t know what they don’t know.”
The Denver probation department is understaffed by 10 percent, meaning it’s short 7.75 full-time officers, said Jon Sarche, deputy public information officer for the Colorado Judicial Department.
The 4th Judicial District, covering El Paso and Teller counties, is down about 14 percent, or 12.5 full-time officers.
Bruce is under court order to meet monthly with Probation Officer Marianne Clementi in Colorado Springs. She reports to probation supervisor Steven Rael in Denver.
His Denver probation officer, Mary Lord, said she checked with Rael, and neither could comment on the case.
But with probation cases, some get more attention than others.
“Think of it like triage in an emergency room - a seriously injured person will get quicker and more intensive attention than somebody who needs a few stitches in a finger,” Sarche said by email. “Likewise, a high-risk, intensive-supervision probationer will take up more of a probation officer’s time than a first-time offender placed on regular probation.”
When Bruce was going on probation in June 2012, though, some considered him a high risk.
His economic probation was to be strictly supervised, and many of its conditions and terms were tailored for him by Denver District Judge Ann Mansfield.
She doubted Bruce’s ability to adhere to those requirements, noting that he had no regard for the rule of law and displayed “reprehensible” behavior through his trial.
“I have serious reservations Bruce can be successful,” she said in court.
Adherence to economic probation can be difficult for anyone, Steinberg said.
“It’s an intensive form of probation, which means the likelihood of violating increases exponentially,” he said.
Still, Robert Shapiro, first assistant attorney general, had said he hoped Bruce’s jail term would serve as a wake-up call.
“Mr. Bruce’s life is going to be extremely transparent,” Shapiro told The Denver Post at the 2012 sentencing. “That’s all we wanted.”