Weld County DA Ken Buck

Many of you may have seen our ongoing coverage of the Weld County, Colorado ID theft case that was thrown out by a judge last week for lack of “probable cause.” In an odd twist, that same judge announced his retirement the day after the controversial ruling.

So, the story continues. As expected, Weld County District Attorney Ken Buck is asking the Colorado Court of Appeals to overturn a judge’s decision that stopped his investigation of identity theft involving illegal immigrants. As you may recall, the case was thrown out because the DA had a local tax preparer’s office raided to find the critical information needed to bust more than 100 illegal immigrants.

We were not surprised to hear that the DA filed an appeal. We want to know what you think about this ongoing story. Of course, there is a much larger issue at hand – illegal immigration.

Judge James H. Hiatt

In a new and interesting twist, the judge in the case, Judge James Hiatt, chief judge of the 8th Judicial District in Larimer County, announced his retirement today — the day after his controversial ruling.

Perhaps it was just a matter of timing and he planned to announce his retirement on April 15, 2009 for some time? Or, there some bigger behind-the-scenes political things happening in Colorado that influenced this decision? The timing certainly seems specious. We welcome all thoughts and comments!