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Pomona High School Teacher Charged With Tampering With Evidence

By Brian Maass

ARVADA, Colo. (CBS4) - CBS4 has learned that a social studies teacher at Pomona High School has been charged with felony evidence tampering after investigators say she deleted information on her personal cellphone that was central to a police investigation.

Court and police records show that Julia Renee Morgan is facing a single felony count of evidence tampering in connection with an Arvada police investigation of Morgan's conduct at the school last fall.

Jefferson County school district spokesperson Diana Wilson told CBS4 that Morgan is on leave pending a legal matter.

Morgan's attorney, Chris Decker, told CBS4 he is representing Morgan but he said he was "not at liberty to discuss the case."

According to Arvada police documents in the case, investigators received an anonymous letter regarding Morgan. Police asked to recover evidence from her cell phone as part of their probe.

"Julia was advised through her attorney that law enforcement had grounds to seize her phone and preserve it to allow sufficient time to seek a warrant to search the contents for the communication that she admitted to," reads an affidavit in the case.

On Oct. 19, police say Morgan surrendered her phone to an Arvada police detective, two days after police had interviewed her. But police say that after obtaining a warrant to search the contents of her phone, they discovered she had "deleted the contents of her phone including text messages and call logs" just hours after police told her they would be seizing her phone.

Morgan is due in Jefferson County court for an arraignment Feb. 26.

CBS4 Investigator Brian Maass has been with the station more than 30 years uncovering waste, fraud and corruption. Follow him on Twitter @Briancbs4.

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