Barry Morphew sued Chaffee County, prosecutors, and law enforcement officials after charges in his wife Suzanne's murder case were dismissed without prejudice in 2022. Morphew claimed defendants fabricated evidence, suppressed exculpatory information, and maliciously prosecuted him for first-degree murder after Suzanne disappeared in May 2020. He spent four months in detention before being released on bond conditions.
Writing for a three-judge panel, Judge Rossman concluded the "chief" deficiency in Morphew's 185-page complaint was his failure to plausibly allege the absence of probable cause. "The evidence, even as presented by [Morphew]'s complaint, still supports only one conclusion: that there was... probable cause," the court stated, citing hundreds of uncontested inculpatory facts including evidence of domestic abuse, suspicious behavior on the day of Suzanne's disappearance, and Morphew's conflicting statements to investigators.
The district court had granted defendants' motions to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6) after reviewing both the complaint and the 129-page arrest affidavit. The court determined that even after "correcting" the affidavit to account for Morphew's allegations about fabricated evidence and exculpatory omissions, the remaining evidence established motive, means, and opportunity for the murder.
The ruling comes as Morphew faces renewed criminal charges after a Colorado grand jury re-indicted him on first-degree murder charges in June 2025 while this appeal was pending. The Tenth Circuit noted the renewed prosecution did not affect its analysis of the civil rights claims, which required sufficient allegations that the original arrest and prosecution lacked probable cause.