As mentioned in Part Two of this editorial series, a civil complaint was filed on December 4, 2021, in US District Court by attorneys representing Jason Prescott and his two children. The complaint names Sheriff Richard Valdez, former Undersheriff Derek Woodman, deputy James Martinez, and several other Sheriff’s Office employees, plus the Archuleta County Board of County Commissioners. From the complaint:
The acts and omissions of the Defendants set forth herein were taken by state actors and under color of state law for the purpose of depriving Plaintiffs of their civil rights under the Constitution of the United States of America and are actionable under 42 U.S.C. § 1983.
42 U.S.C. § 1983 prohibits law enforcement officers from falsely applying laws, and thereby depriving a citizen of his or her civil rights.
As previously mentioned, we do not know if this story, as presented in the complaint, is accurate, but Mr. Prescott has requested a jury trial, so a future jury may have the responsibility to determine its truthfulness.
The events, as related in the complaint, concern Ericka Prescott — Jason Prescott’s wife and mother of his children — and deputy James Martinez, who had apparently become romantically involved, and who allegedly conspired to arrange for Jason Prescott’s arrest, based on false information. The complaint states that Ericka Prescott had lost custody of her children while living in Florida, as the result of falsely accusing Jason Prescott of domestic violence. Mr. Prescott thus had sole custody of the two children, according to a 2019 ruling by the Miami-Dade County Circuit Court.
The complaints states that Jason Prescott discovered text messages pointing to a conspiracy between his wife and deputy Martinez, and subsequently retained Durango attorney Lisa Ward. Attorney Ward contacted Archuleta County Sheriff Rich Valdez on December 2, 2020, via email, to make him aware of the possible conspiracy. She provided the Sheriff with the 2019 Florida court ruling which granted Jason Prescott sole custody of the children; the Florida ruling included “information that Erika Prescott had staged a fake domestic violence allegation against Plaintiff Jason Prescott”
From the complaint:
Mr. Prescott’s attorney put Defendant Sheriff Valdez on notice that as a result of the discovery of the text messages between Erika Prescott and Defendant Martinez “…it is clear that Ms. Prescott is premeditating further false allegations and has enlisted the assistance of a Sheriff’s Deputy who has now knowingly or unknowingly become involved in Ms. Prescott’s schemes to falsify yet another arrest against Mr. Prescott” and that “… This is nothing but an attempt by Ms. Prescott to lay the groundwork for false allegations.” The attorney’s letter requested that the Defendant Valdez “… investigate this matter and the inappropriate discussions which appear to be setting up false allegations against Mr. Prescott.”
On December 3, 2020 at 9:26:53 AM Defendant Valdez replied, “Thank you for bringing this matter to my attention” and continued, “The information will be turned over to my Operations Commander for a full review.” Attorney Ward responded, “Please keep me updated,” and on December 3, 2020 at 10:27:35 AM Sheriff Valdez replied, “Will do.”
These responses by Defendant Valdez were false. In fact, the Archuleta County Sheriff’s Office had already sworn out an Affidavit for Arrest of Plaintiff Jason Prescott based on false allegations of Erika Prescott and in complete disregard of Jason Prescott’s rights under the aforementioned Order of the Florida Circuit Court and under the Constitution of the United States, and a warrant had been issued for the arrest of Plaintiff Jason Prescott on December 2, 2020 by a judge of the Archuleta County District Court.
In fact, the Affidavit for Arrest Warrant was false and incomplete and intentionally omitted exculpatory information, all with the goal of securing the arrest of Plaintiff Jason Prescott in violation of his constitutional rights and in violation of the recognized customs, practices, and procedures of the Archuleta County Sheriff’s Office and applicable law. Had the Affidavit for Arrest Warrant included the exculpatory information, or had the Archuleta County Sheriff’ Office investigated the allegations made by co-conspirator Erika Prescott, the Affidavit would have been significantly altered, or not filed at all, and the arrest of Plaintiff Jason Prescott would not have occurred.
At the same time that Sheriff Valdez was purporting to express concern about the allegations of collusion between co-conspirators Erika Prescott and Defendant Martinez, and stating that the information would be turned over to his Operations Commander, Defendant Brown, “for a full review”, there was no bona fide “full review” and instead, upon information and belief, Defendant Brown, Sheriff Valdez, Undersheriff Woodman, Defendant Sindelar and others conspired to issue an “Amber Alert” for the arrest of Jason Prescott and removal of his children from his custody, notwithstanding the above information and in violation of policies, procedures, and customs of the Archuleta Sheriff’s Office and in violation of applicable law.
“Amber Alerts” are issued by law enforcement when children are abducted — by a person who is not their custodian. The complaint makes it clear that Jason Prescott was, in fact, the sole custodian of his children during the time period in question. The complaint asserts that Sheriff Valdez and his staff continued working to have Jason Prescott arrested, even after receiving information from attorney Lisa Ward on December 2 that should have caused a re-evaluation of the situation.
From the complaint:
An “Amber Alert” was issued with respect to Plaintiff Jason Prescott and the Prescott Children and as a result, Jason Prescott was arrested in and placed in custody at approximately 1:37 AM on December 4, [2020] by the Colorado Springs Police Department. This arrest occurred in the middle of the night, in front of the Prescott Children, causing great distress, damage, and mental anguish to Plaintiff Jason Prescott and to the Prescott Children.
Upon information and belief, the issuance of the Amber Alert was in violation of the customs, practices, and procedures of the Archuleta County Sheriff’s Office.
The Defendants conspired and agreed by words or conduct to accomplish an unlawful goal or to accomplish a goal through unlawful means and one or more acts were performed to accomplish this goal, the improper and unlawful arrest of Plaintiff Jason Prescott and the causing of damages and resulting severe emotional distress to Plaintiff Jason Prescott and the Prescott Children.
All of the Defendants participated in the civil conspiracy identified above, and Plaintiff Jason Prescott and the Prescott children suffered damages as a result thereof.