September 26, 2005

Contact: Lynn Kimbrough, 720-913-9025 

BRENTS PROSECUTOR NAMED “PROSECUTOR OF THE YEAR”

The Colorado District Attorneys Council has honored a prosecutor from the Denver DA’s Office as “Prosecutor of the Year.”

Chief Deputy Stephanie Villafuerte, who led the prosecution of Brent Brents earlier this year, has been awarded the Robert R. Gallagher Prosecutor of the Year Award. 

In nominating Villafuerte for this honor, Denver DA Mitch Morrissey urged the Colorado District Attorneys Council to consider her career-long commitment to families and children victimized by physical and sexual violence as well as her extraordinary prosecution of the Brents case.

“Over the years, Stephanie has personally prosecuted and supervised the prosecution of many of Denver’s most horrific crimes against children,” Morrissey wrote.  “She has had a steady diet of the worst of human conduct inflicted upon others – a seemingly endless parade of wrongs against predominantly women and children.  She has handled these cases with professionalism, sincere compassion, deep commitment and uncommon skill.” 

Villafuerte has been involved in updating Denver’s child abuse and domestic violence protocols, was instrumental in increasing the use of closed-circuit television for child testimony in sexual assault cases, has served on numerous task forces and continues to teach on these issues.

When Denver was terrorized by a serial rapist early in 2005, DA Morrissey turned to Villafuerte for her expertise in these types of cases.  In his nomination letter, Morrissey said, “I know from my almost daily discussions with Stephanie during the prosecution of the Brents case that this case represented a challenge of unique proportion.  All of her responsibilities as Chief Deputy of the Family Violence Unit continued.  Her caseload did not disappear.  Her commitments in the community continued.  This enormous workload was simply added on – creating 5 months of grueling hours and sleep deprivation.”

Villafuerte was given the award last week at the annual CDAC conference and graciously accepted the award by sharing the recognition with a team of people who assisted on the case. 

Villafuerte joined the Denver DA’s Office in 1991.  She became an Assistant U.S. Attorney in 1998 and then returned to the Denver DA’s Office in January 2001 as Chief Deputy of the Family Violence Unit.

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