The lawsuit brought by Barry Morphew against sever law enforcement agencies, including Chaffee County, has been dismissed.
Morphew filed the civil suit in May of 2023 against several prosecutors, Chaffee County, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation and the FBI.
According to the lawsuit, Morphew was seeking $15 million for “damages caused by the defendant prosecutors, Chaffee County and law enforcement officials.”
The murder case against Barry Morphew in the disappearance and death of his wife Suzanne was dismissed in April of 2022.
The 314-page federal lawsuit asserted 13 different claims all surrounding Morphew being prosecuted for his wife’s disappearance and murder. The complaint alleged that the prosecutors, Chaffee County, and both state and federal law enforcement agencies “conspired to deprive Barry Morphew of his due process rights and his right to be free from seizure, incarceration, to fabricate evidence against him, to manipulate witness testimony, to conceal and omit evidence, to falsify charges, and to commit misconduct.”
The lawsuit was dismissed without prejudice, meaning it can be filed again.
In the ruling, Judge Daniel Domenico concluded that “anyone” accused of a crime deserves better that what happened in Morphew’s case.
He also suggested that Morphew may be right that the immunity doctrine should be revisited and said it should be easier to sue for mishandled prosecutions.
However, he said he had to apply the law as it is currently written and therefore had to dismiss the claim made by Morphew.
