SandBoxBlogs: Aspen Daily News "Two felonies dismissed as judge sanctions prosecutor"

(See Swift Communications coverage of the same story here: http://www.aspentimes.com/article/20120522/NEWS/120529981/1077&ParentProfile=1058)

Chad Abraham:
" A Glenwood Springs man who was facing a mandatory minimum sentence of 36 years in prison now is facing only four and a half years if found guilty, after a judge again sanctioned an Aspen prosecutor on Monday.

In her ruling, Judge Gail Nichols of Pitkin County District Court dismissed the two most serious felony charges against Asa Robinson, 30.

In addition to a felony count of false reporting of an explosive — a count that still stands from his alleged bomb threat last fall at the Belly Up — Robinson was charged with two related felonies of assault on a police officer.

Nichols dismissed the latter two charges as part of a sanction related to the handling of pretrial evidence, or discovery, by the prosecution’s offices in Glenwood and Aspen. An evidence custodian for the Aspen Police Department also erroneously handled discovery, Nichols found....." (Read more?  Click title)

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Disclaimer:  "Now that DA Beeson has thrown his hat in the ring for district attorney in the 9th, please take note that there will be no special treatment given to any news press surrounding his race. His articles, if they are SandBox worthy or chosen in the daily agg run-up; will be put up just like anyone else in a political race. What SandBox Commentators will continue to do, is heavily moderate his articles. (We are the only news media that provides the courtesy of moderating commentary from the general public on 9th Judicial District and Mr. Beeson's articles. All 9th Judicial news articles are DA Beeson's articles )"

SandBoxBlogs: Aspen Daily News "Attorneys clash over possible sanctions in Belly Up bomb case"

Disclaimer: "Now that DA Beeson has thrown his hat in the ring for district attorney in the 9th, please take note that there will be no special treatment given to any news press surrounding his race. His articles, if they are SandBox worthy or chosen in the daily agg run-up; will be put up just like anyone else in a political race. What SandBox Commentators will continue to do, is heavily moderate his articles. (We are the only news media that provides the courtesy of moderating commentary from the general public on 9th Judicial District and Mr. Beeson's articles. All 9th Judicial news articles are DA Beeson's articles ) "

Chad Abraham:
"Among the issues is when the interview was turned over by Aspen police to the district attorney’s office, and when the prosecutor’s office either gave a copy of the interview to Fang or alerted her to its existence.

The Aguilera-Pimentel case involved an “abuse of discretion” by the district attorney’s office, Fang said, adding that she feels the court of appeals is unlikely to overturn Nichols’ sanctions.

Nichols, in issuing those sanctions, cited five cases involving pretrial violations, and Fang said that determination of a pattern of missteps has continued with Robinson’s case. Nichols should not “back step” from her previous ruling against prosecutors because, in the current case, “the identical violations could not be more striking,” Fang said.

Fang argued that sanctions should rise again to the point of suppressing key evidence — in this case the interview between Robinson and MacAyeal and photos that allegedly show injuries the defendant received during his arrest — because they were provided too late.

Both pieces of evidence are exculpatory, or statements that are favorable to Robinson, who apparently told MacAyeal that he initially thought he was being “jumped” and, afterward, that he thought he was being arrested for resisting arrest, and not for the bomb-threat allegation. Police photos of the injuries that allegedly were not turned over in a timely matter back up Robinson’s story, Fang argued in the motion to dismiss, which ought to lead to outright dismissal of the case, she said.

Mordkin, however, said Nichols should not enforce sanctions that end up again in a dismissal. Prosecutors in the 9th Judicial District have made it their practice to turn over to defense attorneys what is required, he said......"  (Read more?  Click title)

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SandBoxBlogs: Aspen Daily News "Pivotal evidence hearing on Monday in bomb-threat case"

Disclaimer: "Now that DA Beeson has thrown his hat in the ring for district attorney in the 9th, please take note that there will be no special treatment given to any news press surrounding his race. His articles, if they are SandBox worthy or chosen in the daily agg run-up; will be put up just like anyone else in a political race. What SandBox Commentators will continue to do, is heavily moderate his articles. (We are the only news media that provides the courtesy of moderating commentary from the general public on 9th Judicial District and Mr. Beeson's articles. All 9th Judicial news articles are DA Beeson's articles.)

Chad Abraham:
"The judge presiding over a man’s felony case involving an alleged bomb threat concerning a Belly Up concert urged the attorneys for both sides on Tuesday to come to an agreement on pretrial evidence issues.

Otherwise, public defender Tina Fang, representing Asa Robinson, 30, of Glenwood Springs, may call Aspen prosecutor Arnold Mordkin to testify about record-keeping matters in a motion-to-dismiss hearing set for Monday.

Custodians of evidence in the Aspen Police Department and the Aspen office of the 9th Judicial District Attorney may also be called to the stand. Judge Gail Nichols of Pitkin County District Court said that, in order for her to rule on the motion, she needs to rely on statements that are only made under oath unless Fang and Mordkin can agree on matters involving certain evidence.....

....Fang’s motion says the district attorney’s office didn’t turn over a copy of the interview until March 22, which the defense attorney says is another example of miscues involving pretrial evidence, or discovery, committed by the Aspen prosecutor’s office.

Nichols last summer sanctioned Mordkin for similar missteps in five cases, ordering that he could not use key evidence in a motor-vehicle theft case. Mordkin soon after filed to have the case dismissed, saying he could not expect a successful prosecution without that evidence.

But he and District Attorney Martin Beeson have appealed Nichols’ ruling to the Colorado Court of Appeals, where it is pending, and defended the Aspen office’s handling of discovery. Nichols’ ruling cites a handful of cases in which prosecutorial discovery errors were made out of the nearly 2,700 that the Aspen office handled between 2008 and 2011, meaning the vast majority of cases were handled correctly, the appeal says. Mordkin has also said in court motions that his office and evidence custodians of the local law enforcement agencies have rectified the issues that led to the mistakes.

But for the latest alleged infraction, Nichols “should make it clear that the blame rests with [Mordkin] and his office — alone,” Fang wrote. Dismissing Robinson’s case is the only way the court can be assured that its authority to enforce procedural rules will be respected, the motion says......"
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"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."

SandBoxBlogs: Aspen Daily News "Public defender readies another sanction attempt on Aspen district attorney"

"Now that DA Beeson has thrown his hat in the ring for district attorney in the 9th, please take note that there will be no special treatment given to any news press surrounding his race. His articles, if they are SandBox worthy or chosen in the daily agg run-up; will be put up just like anyone else in a political race. What SandBox Commentators will continue to do, is heavily moderate his articles.  (We are the only news media that provides the courtesy of moderating commentary from the general public on 9th Judicial District and Mr. Beeson's articles. ) "

Chad Abraham:
"The attorney for a man facing three felonies after allegedly calling in a bomb threat to get into a concert said Monday that she will seek to have the charges dismissed because of an alleged pretrial evidence miscue by the Aspen district attorney’s office.

Asa Robinson’s lawyer, public defender Tina Fang, said she also will be filing a motion later this month to sanction Chief Deputy District Attorney Arnold Mordkin. She alleged that Mordkin only within the past 10 days turned over to her a recorded statement Robinson made to an Aspen police detective in the Pitkin County Jail.

Prosecutors are expected to turn over evidence to defense attorneys 20 days after the filing of charges. After that, when new evidence comes to a prosecutor’s attention it must be turned over to the defense as soon as practical, according to the Colorado Rules of Criminal Procedure.

Robinson, 30, of Glenwood Springs, has been in jail since he was arrested at the Belly Up on Nov. 22. He was advised the next day that he faces felony counts of false reporting of explosives, assault of a police officer and menacing. Police say he called the county communications center to report a bomb in the venue, which was evacuated during a sold-out Zeds Dead show....." (Read more?  Click title)

"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."

SandBoxBlogs: Aspen Daily News "Belly Up bomb threat suspect likely to be tried"

Chad Abraham:
"A judge said on Monday that she will likely rule there is enough evidence to bind over for trial a Glenwood man who allegedly called in a bomb threat regarding the Belly Up to get into a sold-out concert.

After a nearly two-hour hearing in Pitkin County District Court, Judge Gail Nichols ruled that there is probable cause to believe Asa Robinson, 30, assaulted Aspen police officer Gregg Cole on Nov. 22.

Robinson is charged with two counts of assault of a peace officer and false reporting of explosives. Nichols only ruled on one of the assault counts, saying she wanted to study a custody issue related to the other charge and a hearsay issue related to the false reporting count.

Cole testified on Monday that he went to the Belly Up after the bomb threat was called in to the county emergency dispatch center around 9:40 p.m.

The center’s phones have caller ID, and another officer, using the number, was able to get Robinson’s account information from Sprint, the cell-phone carrier, Cole said. Robinson’s photograph was on file at the police department from “previous contacts,” the officer said...."
(Read more?  Click title)

"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."