Mitchell R. Morrissey
Mitchell Morrissey
Mitchell R. Morrissey, Esq., has been the District Attorney of Denver, Colorado since 2005 and is responsible for the prosecution of more than 5,500 felony and 12,000 misdemeanor criminal cases each year. Mitch has worked on behalf of the citizens of Denver for more than 30 years as an attorney in the Denver DA's Office; more than half of those years he has served as a Chief Deputy. As the chief prosecutor for the Second Judicial District, Mitch is an aggressive prosecutor and an advocate of prevention and intervention initiatives. He is internationally known for his expertise in DNA technology, applying that technology in criminal prosecutions and working to ensure that DNA science is admissible in our courtrooms. Mitch is a leading proponent of using Familial DNA Database searches in criminal investigations. He developed specialized software to conduct familial searches, and has shared this proprietary software free of charge with five state labs. He also continues to direct the Denver DNA Human Identification Research Project to study the use of familial DNA searches in investigations. He has worked extensively on the Denver Cold Case Project in which more than 4,200 unsolved sexual assaults and murders have been reviewed, utilizing DNA technologies to solve them. He makes victims a priority and is dedicated to providing victims a strong voice in the justice system. He was instrumental in getting “Katie's Law” passed in Colorado so that a DNA sample is now taken at the time of a felony arrest. In 2007, he ran a successful campaign to pass a bond initiative to build a new state-of-the-art crime laboratory in Denver, a world class facility that has been operational since 2012. He has also been instrumental in launching Denver's Crime Gun Intelligence Center, a collaborative effort with the Denver Police Department and the ATF to track and link guns used in crimes to help reduce gun violence. He successfully advocated for including sexual orientation in Colorado's hate crimes statue and was awarded the Distinguished Service Award for this work by the GLBT Community Center of Colorado in 2006.
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