by Julie Hayden
Paula and Todd Bovo are one of Glendale’s most prominent power couples. She was a council member and then Mayor Pro Tem of the city from 2010 to 2016, with a publicly expressed aspiration to become the governor of Colorado. He started one of the city’s most well known and aggressive personal injury firms with offices in the penthouse of the Cherry Creek Plaza at 650 South Cherry Street. They were married in 2009. Paula was also an attorney and she became his legal partner in the Bovo Law firm. She helped prepare cases for trial and he usually acted as lead counsel in court. The couple were frequent guests at civic, social and charitable events in Glendale and Denver.
Marriages, of course, can turn sour and the circumstances can be greatly aggravated when the couple are also business partners. For the Bovos it is now full out warfare in and out of court. She publicly and in court pleadings alleges that he is a domestic violence perpetrator against both her and the couples’ two children. He in turn vigorously disputes those claims and asserts that she is a serial liar and person who regularly betrays the trust of those around her.
Their allegations and counter allegations have spilled over into public and professional arenas.
Court Documents
Public records show the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Department has responded to the Bovo home twice on domestic violence calls. Both times officers left without arresting anyone, an unusual result in these kinds of cases.
In a May 2017 incident Paula Bovo called 911 claiming her husband was destroying property inside their home. The report indicates that she videotaped Todd “yelling and cussing” but adds “she stated at no time did he threaten her or the kids and did not physically touch her… .” Deputies left without making any arrests.
According to another Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Report, Paula Bovo called 911 again in March 2019, saying, “She is scared he (Todd) will hurt her.” Reporting officers say Paula told them Todd said, “I’m going to kill you” and that he was “going to burn the house down.” Officers say they talked with Todd on scene who denied making any such threats. Officers noted the Bovos “both had conflicting stories” and that neither could be confirmed. Responding officers wrote, “We could not substantiate that a crime had occurred” and once again left without making any arrests.
Abuse allegations rose again in divorce proceedings when Paula Bovo sought a restraining order against Todd Bovo. But that was thrown out in a May 2019 decision by an Arapahoe County Judge who ruled, “Based on the evidence and testimony presented to the court …. the court hereby dissolves the temporary protection order as to all parties.” The judge also cancelled a second hearing that had been set on the same allegations.
It is in those proceedings where the accusations shift into Paula Bovo’s public and professional life. The Glendale Cherry Creek Chronicle has obtained two subpoenas issued by Todd Bovo, one to a prominent Denver attorney and the other to KCNC Investigative Reporter Brian Maass for them to appear at the May restraining order hearing that was subsequently dismissed by the Judge. In court filings, Paula claims the subpoenas are Todd’s efforts to harass her. But he claims they go to the heart of her credibility issues.
Alleged Assault On Boat
The attorney, who the Chronicle is not naming, consulted with the Bovos’ law firm on a civil case in 2018. Todd says in August of that year Paula told him she was meeting the attorney at the couple’s boat docked at Cherry Creek Reservoir. She apparently bought several bottles of wine for the rendezvous and the two of them cruised on Cherry Creek Reservoir. Todd claims when she came home, she was extremely upset and crying and claimed the attorney sexually assaulted her. Todd said she did not want to call police but in later months frequently mentioned the alleged assault to other people.
Mike Smith, a paralegal litigator who works with both Paula and Todd Bovo at their law firm, said she had also told him the attorney sexually assaulted her on the boat in the Cherry Creek Reservoir. “It was a few days after she met (the attorney) at the dock at Cherry Creek State Park and she was upset and finally expressed she had met (the attorney) there and that things were okay for a moment but that he approached her and forced himself on her, specifically sticking his tongue down her throat,” said Smith. Smith continued and indicating that Paula told him she pushed the attorney away adding that she appeared very upset as she told the story. “Emotionally you could tell she was distraught, something was clearly bothering her, weighing heavy on her,” said Smith.
Both Smith and Todd Bovo say Paula talked about the alleged assault on other occasions and even told an investigative reporter. KCNC’s Brian Maass interviewed Paula Bovo as a legal expert on an unrelated story that ran January 31, 2019. Todd claimed Paula told him that after the official interview ended, she told Maass the attorney sexually assaulted her. Smith said she told him the same thing. “After the Brian Maass interview, she said she had discussed it with Brian Maass and he now knew the situation,” said Smith. “Just that she had told him the same story as far as what happened at the dock, that Brian Maass now knew the story.”
Paula denies ever making such a claim. She said, “(The attorney) never sexually assaulted me and I never said that to anyone.” She adds, “And if anyone says I did they are not telling the truth.”
When the Glendale Cherry Creek Chronicle contacted reporter Maass he said, “I’m not going to be able to help you out on that.”
But Todd Bovo and Smith stand by their stories, adamant that Paula made the sexual assault allegations on numerous occasions.
Todd Bovo says it’s not right that someone with Paula’s stature in the community can keep making what he calls false allegations with potentially devastating consequences to him and others.
Show Cause Hearing
Paula Bovo’s professional credibility has been questioned before. In a July 2019 Federal Court order by Judge William Martinez regarding a civil case Paula was involved in, the judge took the unusual step of threatening to sanction her. According to the court document, Judge Martinez identified at least four instances in which Bovo “willfully misrepresented the Complaint, either by making false assertions about the contents of specific paragraphs or by asserting, without citation, that certain things had already been alleged.” The Judge ordered Paula to “show cause why she should not be sanctioned” for misrepresenting what was in the Complaint.
In September 2019 the Judge decided not to sanction Paula, writing, “Ms. Bovo accepts responsibility for her actions and displays what the Court finds to be genuine and appropriate contrition.” Ms. Bovo withdrew from the case on February 17, 2020, along with Mr. Bovo.
The FBI
Todd Bovo asserts not only was Paula a confidential source for negative stories about Glendale by Brian Maass while she was the Mayor Pro Tem she also was a source for the FBI in connection with an apparent FBI investigation involving the City of Glendale in early 2016.
An undercover FBI agent using the fake name of “Charles Johnson” showed up in Glendale. He was posing as a private investigator and knocking on the doors of citizens who made public comments about a proposed development at Colorado Boulevard and Virginia. The residents, who felt threatened and harassed reported “Johnson” to Glendale Police. Johnson was carrying multiple motor vehicle licenses from different states. The police arrested Johnson for failure to have a required private investigator license but the charges were dropped when the FBI intervened demanding all charges be dismissed. Johnson was apparently a top undercover agent who was outed during the Bundy trial in Nevada where he claimed to be a documentary film producer obtaining incriminating statements from the Bundy family members. The case against Cliven Bundy was thrown out by Federal District Court Judge Gloria Navarro for “flagrant prosecutorial misconduct.”
It was never clear what the FBI was investigating in Glendale. However, Jonathan Grusing, a top special agent for the FBI, was photographed with the principals of the Authentic Persian and Oriental Rug Company who were demanding and suing the city to be able to build a massive apartment building on the land on Colorado Boulevard and Virginia Avenue. Todd Bovo says unbeknownst to other City Council members, Paula was regularly meeting with the FBI during this time. He says he does not know what she said but notes Paula was eventually forced to hire a criminal defense attorney to represent her on the matter. According to a Fee Agreement dated February of 2016 the attorney was hired to “provide legal representation of Paula Bovo… in the pending investigation by the state and federal authorities in the State of Colorado… pertaining to the investigation and any pending charges related to Glendale municipal government activities.”
Whatever the FBI was looking into, the investigation seems to have ended and the only person ever arrested was the undercover FBI agent Johnson.
Reaction
Jeff Allen, COO of the Greater Glendale Chamber of Commerce, who was on the City Council with Ms. Bovo, stated: “If the former Mayor Pro Tem Bovo was acting as a source for Brian Maass for his negative and unfair stories about Glendale and while secretly meeting with the FBI without informing the City Attorney or her fellow council members, she utterly betrayed our trust and I am, for one, ashamed of her.”
The Chronicle reached out to Ms. Bovo for her response to the allegations and any other information she wished to provide. In response she sent the following statement: “As a victim of domestic violence and a mother of young children, I find it reprehensible that my ex-husband and the Cherry Creek Chronicle have chosen to inflict more harm upon me and my children by sharing my private life and story for the benefit of revenge; due to ongoing lawsuits I cannot comment further.”
Todd Bovo noted: “It breaks my heart to see the mother of my children and soon to be ex-wife continue to make allegations that couldn’t be further from the truth. Paula’s claims are insulting and offensive to the true victims of domestic violence. “
The next court date on the dissolution of the marriage of the Bovos is a four-day hearing for permanent orders scheduled to start June 23, 2020.