Follow up on the story on judge's questioning of prosecutor's exercise of discretion not to charge

Less than a week ago, I wrote about a case in Colorado where a judge ordered a prosecutor to appear for a hearing to explain why the prosecutors' office did not file charges against a sheriff's deputy.  Go here for the details.  Today, the ABAJournal.com is reporting that the judge found the prosecutor should have filed charges (which I assume means the judge found the prosecutor abused his discretion in not doing so).  However, the judge also found that it was too late to do it now because the statute of limitations had run.

Should the judge have imposed sanctions for the abuse of discretion?  I don't think so.  Even though the prosecutor's explanation as to why he decided not to file charges is simply unbelievable (given the evidence available in the videos showing the incident, which is available here), for good or for bad, prosecutorial discretion is a necessary component of our criminal justice system.  

Some commentators go farther, however, and seem to imply that, as long as prosecutors do not violate a rule, no one has the right to criticize their decisions. I disagree. Prosecutors are public officials, and like all public officials, their conduct is open to criticism. 

So, prosecutors are, and should be, subject to criticism for their conduct, but in a case like this one, allowing the judge to impose sanctions would be problematic.