Denver Assistant DA To Resign After Bullying Investigation

DENVER, CO — Denver's assistant deputy district attorney will resign after an investigation was conducted into complaints of bullying. The Denver District Attorney's Office hired an outside firm to investigate claims that their No. 2 prosecutor bullied his colleagues.

Late last week, Assistant District Attorney Ryan Brackley was reprimanded, ordered to take classes from the Employers Council and participate in mediation, according to a letter obtained by The Denver Post. But apparently that's changed. Denver District Attorney Beth McCann and Brackley "agree that it is in the best interest of the office moving forward that he resign," the DA's office said in a media release Monday. The office said "it became clear in attempting to restructure job responsibilities that a parting was the best solution."

“This decision was very difficult,” McCann said in a statement. “Ryan brought great value to the office in many ways, and he accomplished important and significant work for us and the city of Denver. I admire his passion, hard work, commitment to the office and considerable trial skills. I thank Ryan for his heartfelt and outstanding contributions to me, my administration, this office and to the city as a whole.”

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Brackley is accused of being especially abusive towards female colleagues. He threatened to fire a prosecutor's "(expletive) fat ass" in a group text if she posted crime scene photos on social media, according to a report by The Denver Post. Another prosecutor said he half swung a baseball bat toward her head multiple times while he was angry about an email she'd sent, The Post reported.

Patch reached out to the DA's office for a statement from Brackley on the allegations but did not immediately hear back.

The outside investigation, conducted by Employers Council, found that Brackley likely didn't mean to scare the woman with the baseball bat, but lacked self awareness.

Helen Morgan, Chief Deputy of the Behavioral Health Unit will assume the responsibilities of the Assistant District Attorney on an interim basis beginning this week, the DA's office said. Brackley’s last official day will be August 2.