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Embattled Laramie County DA Manlove begins hearing to face State Bar charges Wednesday

A screencap of Laramie County District Attorney Leigh Anne Manlove in a video uploaded to her website, who has had two formal charges filed against her by the Wyoming State Bar over the past year. (Leigh Anne Manlove for District Attorney)

CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Laramie County District Attorney Leigh Anne Manlove, who is facing two formal charges from the Wyoming State Bar related to misconduct in her position, begins a hearing Wednesday in front of the Board of Professional Responsibility (BPD) that could remove her from office if found guilty.

Manlove, a Republican who was elected to the position in 2018, was first charged by the BPD (the group that supervises attorneys’ actions in the state) in June last year of dismissing hundreds of cases in Laramie County along with creating a hostile work environment, then charged again in October for allegations of actions that led to the release of two men accused of violent crimes — including one accused of sexually abusing a minor.

The hearing is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. Wednesday in the Wyoming Ballroom at Little America Hotel and Resort on 2800 W. Lincolnway in Cheyenne and must end by 5 p.m. February 11 per a court order. Per reporting from the (Cheyenne) Wyoming Tribune-Eagle, audio and video recordings of the trial (as well as photos) are banned. Video recordings are available upon request while audio can be found on the Wyoming Judicial Branch’s website.

Manlove has mostly denied the allegations.

In a statement Wednesday morning prior to her hearing, Manlove claimed the State Bar’s move was “unprecedented” and that it had taken issue with her “plac[ing] a priority on the prosecutions of violent and serious crimes” and that action was being taken against her in part due to her stance on prosecuting mask mandates. Manlove remarked on a Cheyenne radio station in October 2020 that she would not pursue charges against anyone in violation of a now-expired mask mandate in Laramie County.

“When faced with budget cuts during the economic downturn, I made many decisions to ensure the District Attorney’s Office could be as effective as possible given the reality of the cutbacks that needed to be made,” Manlove wrote in the release. “Going after violent criminals in our communities rather than focusing on maskless Laramie County residents was an easy, common-sense decision for me.”

All four Laramie County District Court judges along with the three Laramie County Circuit judges filed a letter to the State Bar in December 2020 accusing Manlove of “incompetence and lack of professionalism” in her role, according to prior Cap City News reporting, which led to an investigation that resulted in the June charge. Manlove in her October charge was accused of being a “persistent and ongoing threat to public safety in Cheyenne” following her actions in regards to the two aforementioned men released for violent crimes.

One of those men is Andrew Weaver, who was sentenced to life in prison last August for killing two people in a drug-related shooting September 2019 in Cheyenne. Weaver was arrested on misdemeanor charges eight days before the murders, but Manlove’s office did not file the required paperwork within 72 hours by law to bring formal charges, resulting in Weaver’s release, per State Bar charges. Manlove wrote that her staff made a “mistake” with the case and that “our team is human” in the Wednesday release.

However, with the case regarding a sexual abuse of a minor (which occurred Aug. 30, 2020), Manlove alleged in the release that her office requested the Cheyenne Police Department (CPD) to conduct additional investigation, which she claims the entity refused.

Per a release from the City of Cheyenne last month, Manlove took no action regarding the case between first receiving a 32-page investigative report on Nov. 2, 2020 and sending a “declination of case” letter to CPD investigator Allison Baca on June 9, 2021, a total of 219 days after first receiving the report. CPD responded by advocating for the immediate filing of charges along with additional information about the case, in which a district court judge then ordered last month for the case to be reviewed under Wyoming Attorney General (AG) Bridget Hall as Manlove cannot due to a conflict of interest from the State Bar charges.

Even with the city’s release that alleged Manlove “failed and refused to file criminal charges against the suspect” despite heavy evidence, Manlove maintained in her Wednesday release that she did not have enough material to prosecute due to her allegation that the CPD didn’t cooperate with her office.

“If I am going to charge someone with a violent felony, like child sexual abuse, I am going to be absolutely certain that I can prove that case beyond a reasonable doubt,” Manlove wrote in the release. “Often times that requires that law enforcement do more work in the investigation but when they refused, I had an ethical obligation to decline a case I could not prove.”

A Laramie County resident and relative of Manlove by marriage, Andrew Rathbun, started a GoFundMe on January 23 in an attempt to raise $20,000 related to the DA’s legal costs in facing the State Bar charges. The fundraiser is still up as of Wednesday morning with 25 donors having pledged $2,035 toward the goal, with Manlove appearing to have made the first donation of $20.

The GoFundMe description alleges that Manlove, in an “unprecedented” scenario, can’t receive malpractice insurance because the AG is supposed to defend lawsuits brought upon state employees. In Tribune-Eagle reporting, AG Hall called the situation “not at all unprecedented” and that the state doesn’t represent employees in professional licensing matters.

If Manlove is not removed from office following the hearing’s sentencing, she will be up for re-election later this year.

“We have done a mountain of a job,” Manlove wrote. “Although my pursuit to restore integrity has been met with significant resistance, I will steadfastly continue my fight on behalf of the children and families of Laramie County.”


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