Glendale Prostitution Sting Has Fringe Benefits

In his supplemental report, Lambert wrote that Martin told him that Martin and Gross believed the audio recordings were not evidence, but were only made for "officer safety." (The recordings, which had been misfiled, were eventually found.) Lambert also wrote that he asked Martin about the handwritten notes and that Martin said he didn't know what Gross was going to do with them.

"This isn't a felony case, it's a misdemeanor," Lambert quoted Gross as saying while he shook the three pages of notes. "I don't think we need these for evidence. I don't take my field notes from a traffic stop and put them into evidence."

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Gross then discarded the notes, according to his own sworn statement.

Gross and Martin wrote in their signed statements that they couldn't explain the "began oral stimulation" notation, which was in the margin of the notes. And neither officer could recall the specific instance that would have sparked the notation. Both added that they were even uncertain as to which woman was in the room with Gross when Martin wrote it.

Gross also made the argument that notes from misdemeanors aren't filed. "As placing these notes into evidence would be a break from our normal procedure, considering the offense and based on what other jurisdictions have told us regarding their handling of notes," he wrote, "the three pieces of yellow paper containing Det. Martin's handwritten notes were discarded."

Moya doesn't believe the destruction of notes from a prostitution sting should be police procedure. But the fiasco surely helped his client receive what he considers an "unusually generous" deal, a deferred prosecution, which means that the charges will disappear if she doesn't break any laws for six months. Two others received deferred judgments, two were issued warrants for failing to appear in court, two had their cases refiled in other courts, and the other three have hearings scheduled.

As for Moya's complaint that the women were unnecessarily lured into Glendale and subjected to police misconduct, Chief Ross, who has 22 officers working for him (nine of whom were involved in the May sting), says they look for girls who advertise that they work in Glendale or southeast Denver. He also says that his officers know what they can and can't do in such a bust. Prostitution in Glendale is "no better or no worse than any other community in the metro area," he adds.

But a review of Westword ads from that week shows that none of the women refer to Glendale. And a recent review of Craigslist ads also turned up no mention of Glendale.

"It's not where they live; it's that you're trying to get that act out of your area, and I'm not naive enough to believe that one prostitution sting or two is going to rid the area of the world's oldest profession," Ross says.

The Arapahoe County District Attorney's Office won't say when its investigation would conclude, only that it will probably be soon.