Former jailer suing county, state officials

Zadra claims she was set up to take focus off real problems

A former Gunnison County sheriff’s captain who was convicted of seven felony counts of perjury and three additional misdemeanors in April 2010 is going back to court.

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Michelle Zadra is suing her former employers, including former sheriff Rick Murdie, the county sheriff’s office and the county commissioners, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) agent Jack Haynes who conducted the original investigation, and former district attorney Myrl Serra. Attorneys for Zadra filed papers in U.S. District court this week and summons were served to the named county officials.
Gunnison county attorney David Baumgarten said he could not comment on the litigation at this time.
According to the complaint, Zadra is seeking monetary damages and reinstatement of her position. She claims Haynes, “with the cooperation and urging of Sheriff Murdie and District Attorney Myrl Serra, targeted Captain Zadra, in order to remove the focus from the illegalities and problems being uncovered at the Gunnison County Jail and in the Gunnison County Sheriff’s Office, including missing prescriptions at the Gunnison County Jail.”
The complaint states, “Investigator Haynes, acting under false pretenses, lured Captain Zadra into a harassing and improper interrogation, with the goal to harass and humiliate Captain Zadra to create false evidence to support accusations Haynes knew were false.”
“Upon information and belief, Sheriff Murdie, Investigator Haynes and Myrl Serra, District Attorney for the 7th Judicial District, colluded in instituting a false and malicious prosecution against Captain Zadra for perjury,” the complaint says.
Zadra also alleges in the civil suit that the three withheld evidence that would have benefitted her case. Zadra also claims they tampered with evidence.
Zadra was the highest ranking officer at the jail, with almost 20 years of experience on the job, before she was placed on administrative leave for allegedly listening in on the phone calls of an inmate, Joseph Stromayer, in 2009.
According to a CBI affidavit, Zadra had shown sheriff sergeant Melissa Rogers how to use the telephone monitoring system at the jail, which the deputies are allowed to use under certain circumstances. But the eavesdropping went further than it should have.
Listening to privileged attorney-client conversations isn’t one of the circumstances in which listening in is allowed, but that is what Zadra and Rogers allegedly did and then lied about it to investigators. That led the CBI to charge Rogers and Zadra both to face charges in District Court.
At the time of the trial, Zadra turned down a plea deal offered by the prosecution. Misdemeanor official misconduct might have been the only charge against Zadra if she had accepted the plea agreement. For Zadra’s guilty plea to the misconduct charge, district attorney Serra would have dropped the remaining charges. But Zadra declined the offer and chose to face a jury instead. She was ultimately sentenced to 28 days in jail, 288 hours of community service and six years of supervised probation.
After the trial Serra said, “The conviction is a culmination of a joint effort of the [Colorado Bureau of Investigation], Gunnison Police Department and the District Attorney’s office.” Serra also stated that the sheriff’s office was excluded from the investigation for conflict of interest reasons.
Zadra appealed her conviction with the Colorado Court of Appeals and a decision is still pending.
Those being sued by Zadra in this civil action have until mid-December to respond to her allegations.