Pueblo deputy district attorney takes job as a magistrate
Sep. 3—Although she says she is going to miss her job as a prosecutor, 10th Judicial District Senior Deputy District Attorney Michelle Chostner is ready to venture into a new job.
Starting Sept. 7, that job will be to serve as a Pueblo County magistrate overseeing truancy cases for elementary and middle school students in Pueblo School District 60, small claims, name changes and minor traffic infractions. Unlike county and district court judges who are selected by the governor, she interviewed for the position and was selected by Chief Judge Deborah Eyler.
It is a big change for Chostner, 39, who has served as a prosecutor since graduating law school at the University of Denver in 2008 with the exception of one year she worked in private practice with Pueblo attorney Kendra Oyen. The past six years she has worked in Pueblo's 10th Judicial District alongside her father, District Attorney Jeff Chostner and her husband, Deputy District Attorney Kyle McCarthy.
"This is a pretty big shift for me. I think I am ready for a new challenge and a different way of thinking about things and looking at the world," she said.
"I am excited for that. It is definitely going to be a mindful and purposeful change."
Looking back, Chostner said the biggest case of her career was prosecuting Donthe Lucas, who was found guilty of the first-degree murder of his pregnant girlfriend Kelsie Schelling following a lengthy trial earlier this year. The Lucas case was the only one that both Chostner and McCarthy worked together on.
"That was obviously a big case in terms of time and energy and how it had an impact on the community and our personal lives," she explained.
Following the Lucas case she dove into the Bernie Valdez case, getting a conviction in July for the child sex assault suspect after he initially had a mistrial because of a hung jury.
She also was impacted by a case involving victim Karl Martinez, a developmentally disabled adult who was abused and neglected and ultimately died as a result of the injuries he sustained at the hand of defendant Michael Esquibel. Esquibel was found guilty of neglect and serious bodily injury to an at-risk adult in 2018.
Another case that has stayed with her was a 2016 kidnapping case involving Colorado State University Pueblo Professor Marcello Pratarelli, who kidnapped his daughter and took her to Juarez, Mexico.
She said getting to know and be a voice for victims has been her privilege.
She and McCarthy are parents to a 10-year-old son, a 9-year-old daughter and a 6-year-old son.
Chieftain reporter Tracy Harmon covers business news. She can be reached by email at tharmon@chieftain.com or via Twitter at twitter.com/tracywumps.
