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......"
(Read more?  Click title)

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

SandBox Comments: Aspen Daily News "Judge: Officer had cause to question suspect in cocaine distribution case"

Chad Abraham:
"A judge has ruled that an Aspen police officer had reasonable suspicion to stop and question a Snowmass Village man in 2010 about a fight, inquiries that led to his arrest for the brawl and, later, to him being charged with distribution of cocaine.

Justin Gordon, 33, is scheduled to be tried in May on felony counts of cocaine distribution and violating his bond by missing a court date for the drug charge.

Aspen police officer Rick Magnuson, told about an altercation outside Eric’s Bar on Oct. 1, 2010, testified in a Jan. 23 motions hearing that he spotted Gordon two blocks from the bar.

Magnuson said Gordon matched the description he had been given of the suspect in the fight, and the officer began questioning the defendant.

Gordon’s attorney, public defender Tina Fang, had argued that Magnuson did not have reasonable suspicion to stop her client.

“The court disagrees,” wrote Judge Gail Nichols of Pitkin County District Court. “Officer Magnuson knew that he was looking for a short, bald man in a green jacket. There were no other people with green jackets in the area — indeed, there were no other people walking in the area at all.”

Gordon allegedly headed into an alley after spotting Magnuson’s police car, “which could be an expression of consciousness of guilt,” the Feb. 10 ruling says. “All of these facts together provided reasonable suspicion to stop the defendant, question him about whether he was involved in a fight at Eric’s and obtain his identification.”

Gordon was originally arrested for his role in the fight outside the bar. He then was re-arrested the same month after a cabbie told police that cocaine that an officer found strewn in a street near the bar fell out of Gordon’s pocket during the fight.....”
(Read more? Click title)


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

SandBox Comments: Aspen Daily News "Defense attorney likely to pounce on police mistake in drug bust case"

It's an unfortunate choice of wording in the headline. 

How about:  "Local man has charge dismissed because he didn't commit the crime they said he did" ?  What does the defense attorney have to do with the charge being dismissed? 

If the resulting charges elsewhere have merit, he will stand trial without the 'pounce' from a defender.  Hopefully, he will have all of his constitutional rights to full defense upheld as is rightful given his status as an American citizen.

Thank you goes out to the Aspen Police Dept. for their honesty.  You are appreciated and you are applauded for stepping up.

Maybe all the shouting out that locals have been doing for the past 5 to 6 years,  that they have serious concerns that our cops are being turned more into agents for prosecutors than doing their sworn duty to serve and protect the citizenry is really being listened to.

Thank you also goes out to Chief Deputy District Attorney Arnold Mordkin and Chief Public Defender Tina Fang for swiftly going to the heart of the matter instead of dragging any issues out into the public arena at ultimately taxpayer expense.  Maybe there will be some long-term positive changes that really will come out of the current election cycle here in 9th Judicial.  You are both appreciated. 

Chad Abraham:
"...Fang argued for Simmons’ bond to be reduced to $10,000. Simmons, in previous criminal cases he has faced, has never failed to appear for a court hearing, she said.

“He is a long-term resident of the valley and is the sole caretaker of his mother,” who has medical issues, Fang said. “He’s a very instrumental part of her life.”

She also said he is not a risk to flee the area ahead of a possible trial, as “he has no contacts anywhere else, [and] there’s simply nowhere else for him to go,” Fang said.

Mordkin objected to any reduction in bond. Simmons, facing mandatory prison time if he’s convicted, is an “enormous flight risk,” Mordkin said.

“The bail [amount] was appropriate when we set it, and we believe that it’s appropriate now,” he said.

Nichols, who is familiar with Simmons from a previous case, said she believes that he does care for his mother. She also noted that his work history shows he is responsible and will likely show up for court dates.

She kept his bond at $50,000 but set its terms as “cash surety” instead of cash only, making it easier for Simmons to get the help of a bondsman to get out of jail.

Simmons’ next court date is March 5.

Mordkin declined to discuss the police department’s mistake in the tampering case, saying it will come out in expected pretrial motion hearings.

At least one of those hearings will likely involve a motion by Fang to suppress evidence found as a result of the tampering warrant.

Mordkin also declined to say whether officers were apologetic when they told him Friday about the misidentification.

“They did the right thing,” he said. “I think they should be applauded....”
(Read more?  Click title)

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

SandBox Comments: Aspen Daily News "Drug defendant, jailed for nearly 10 months, waits for Supreme Court ruling"

Chad Abraham:

"The longest-serving inmate in the Pitkin County Jail inquires daily about the status of his case at the Colorado Supreme Court, his attorney said Thursday.

Andrian Arapu, 26, originally of the Eastern European nation of Moldova, is “doing OK,” said the defendant’s lawyer, John Van Ness of Woody Creek, on Friday. “He’s getting antsy, though.”

Arapu, who has been in jail since his April 6 arrest, remains charged with possession of cocaine with the intent to distribute and a lesser count of possession, despite a judge’s suppression in November of pivotal evidence.

Arnold Mordkin, chief deputy district attorney, said at a Nov. 7 hearing that he cannot prosecute Arapu without the evidence, and a ruling like the one a local judge made would usually free a defendant.

But Mordkin in December appealed the ruling by Judge Gail Nichols of the 9th Judicial District to the Colorado Supreme Court. That move automatically stayed all proceedings — such as Nichols potentially approving a motion to dismiss — and the case could remain stalled for months before the high court takes it up. The justices could also decline to hear the appeal, which would automatically uphold Nichols’ ruling..."  (Read more?  Click title.)

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

SandBox Comments: Aspen Daily News "Brooke Mueller’s first court appearance postponed again"

"...A judge on Friday agreed to continue the first court appearance for Los Angeles resident Brooke Mueller, the second time her case has been postponed since she was arrested on a felony cocaine distribution charge in Aspen on Dec. 3.

Mueller’s Aspen attorney, Richard Cummins, on Jan. 17 submitted the continuation motion. The 34-year-old is in rehab and withdrawing from the program in order to attend a court hearing, which had been scheduled for Monday, “could be detrimental to her progress,” the motion says.

Mueller was arrested on the Hyman Avenue mall after police found her at a nightclub while investigating a report that Mueller punched another woman during a concert at the Belly Up Aspen.

During her arrest, police allegedly found 4 to 5 grams of cocaine on her.

Aspen chief prosecutor Arnold Mordkin has not said what led him to charge Mueller with possession of cocaine with the intent to distribute. But factors such as the quantity or if the defendant tells police that it wasn’t theirs but for friends can lead to such a criminal count, he said in December...."
(Aspen Daily)

(Read more?  Click title. Comment to discuss)

SandBox Comments: Aspen Daily News "Motion denied to suppress evidence in cocaine case"

Chad Abraham:

"A judge on Monday denied a motion to suppress evidence, including 14 grams of cocaine that police allegedly found strewn in the middle of a downtown street in 2010, in the case of a Snowmass Village man charged with distributing the drug.

But Judge Gail Nichols of Pitkin County District Court, after a nearly two-hour hearing, said she needed time to review a transcript of a recording taken by a police car video camera before ruling on whether the arrest of Justin Gordon, 33, by Aspen police officer Rick Magnuson was lawful.

Gordon was originally arrested for his alleged role in a bar brawl in October 2010, and was later charged with possession of cocaine with the intent to distribute and a bail-bond violation, both of which are felonies...."

SandBox Comments: Aspen Daily News "DA’s office joins fatal accident investigation"

"The Pitkin County District Attorney’s Office will review the investigation by the Colorado State Patrol into the mysterious death of a Basalt woman who was struck and killed by a bus near Buttermilk on Jan. 1.

Authorities are still unsure how, or why, Joanie Marie Kocab, 29, returned to the upper valley in the early morning of New Year’s Day after she disembarked a bus in Basalt after 12:45 a.m. Authorities have ruled out that she took public transportation.

Kocab, who moved to the valley from Kansas less than three weeks before the accident, was struck from behind by a Roaring Fork Transportation Authority bus around 2:25 a.m. Authorities have said she was walking in the middle of the eastbound bus lane just downvalley from the intersection of Highway 82 and Owl Creek Road.

Arnold Mordkin, chief deputy district attorney for the 9th Judicial District, said he requested a copy of the state patrol’s accident investigation, which has not yet been completed.

“This was a very serious happenstance and I want to see the report,” he said. “It’s important.”

The driver, who the state patrol did not ticket for the accident, remains on administrative leave, which is standard practice, said RFTA CEO Dan Blankenship. The Aspen Daily News is not identifying the driver because she has not been ticketed or charged with a crime...."
(Chad Abraham)
(Read more?  Click title. Comment to discuss)

SandBox Comments: Aspen Times "Attempted second-degree murder charge filed Friday"

(See related story here)

"...The day after his Dec. 15 arrest, Jamie Lee Patton, 24, was advised by a judge that the prosecution had planned to charge him with attempted first-degree murder, among other offenses. But on Friday, Chief Deputy District Attorney Arnold Mordkin decided to ratchet down the charge to attempted second-degree murder. A first-degree charge would have indicated that authorities believed Patton's crime was premeditated; second-degree implies that Patton had not planned the attempted killing.

“I had the opportunity to look at it with greater analysis,” Mordkin said, when asked why he did not pursue a first-degree charge...."
(Rick Carroll)

(Read more?  Click title. Comment to discuss)

SandBox Comments: Aspen Times "Aspen man accused of selling Ecstasy"

Update December 30, 2011

As with the current saga of homeless man Jimmy Baldwin being shuffled between North Dakota and Aspen continues; let's deal with the news reporting of Max Puder in the same way.  Just update the original post.

There are (3) relevant stories in today's local news.  Two different styled reports off the Times and the Daily.  And a story off the Times regarding PitCo taking another look at whether  or not to even  allow medical marijuana operations to increase in the city and county (or) to ban them altogether in light of all the problems that industry faces.  Including federal laws.

http://www.aspendailynews.com/section/home/150995

http://www.aspentimes.com/article/20111230/NEWS/111229833/1077&ParentProfile=1058

http://www.aspentimes.com/article/20111230/NEWS/111229830/1077&ParentProfile=1058
_________________________
Original Post:
Why does an 18 year old kid have a medical marijuana card?

"...Chief Deputy District Attorney Arnold Mordkin said he will file charges at Puder's next court appearance, set for Jan. 9.

Puder's parents attended Wednesday's advisement hearing, which Nichols conducted via speaker phone from her office in Glenwood Springs. His father said the family is focused on putting Puder in a rehabilitation facility so he can get on the right track.

Should Puder post bond, he will not be allowed to consume alcohol or take illegal substances. That includes marijuana, even though Puder is a registered marijuana patient.

“No pot. No marijuana,” the judge said.

The family has hired Yale Galanter, a defense attorney who practices in Aspen and outside of the state.
(Rick Carroll)

(Learn more?  Click title. Comment to discuss)

SandBox Comments: Aspen Daily News "Mueller allowed to return to California"

(Note from Nanny:  There is a very short leash on comment activity for Charlie Sheen's ex-wife and that family's ongoing press-op relationship with deputy D.A. Mordkin.  Few postings are going to be done on SandBox regarding her cases and the viral internet debacle that is all turning into again.  Chad Abraham has done his usual pretty thorough job of lining out details in this article and until there is a verdict and sentence; SandBox thinks his work today is plenty to go on.  Need a reminder on how to best get along with 'SandBox Nanny'?  Click here.)

"A Pitkin County judge Monday approved a motion allowing Brooke Mueller to return to California until her next court date on Dec. 19, when she is expected to be charged with possession of cocaine with intent to distribute...."
(Chad Abraham)

(Read the rest?  Are you sure?  Click title.  Comment to discuss)

"Truth goes through three stages. First it is ridiculed. Then it is violently opposed. Finally, it is accepted as self-evident."

SandBox Comments: Aspen Daily News "Defendant in cocaine case to remain jailed"

"An Eastern European man will remain in jail despite the suppression of key evidence in his cocaine case, a judge said Monday.

Andrian Arapu, 25, of Moldova, has been in jail since his arrest in April on a felony count of possession of cocaine with intent to distribute.

Earlier this month, Judge Gail Nichols of Pitkin County District Court ruled that evidence found in his former residence at the Copper Horse Apartments on Main Street cannot be used.

When he was originally detained by immigration agents for being in the country on an expired visa, Arapu gave a police detective permission to stay behind to collect the defendant’s personal effects and to lock up.

But Nichols ruled that the detective exceeded the scope of that authority when he remained in the residence, which other officers allegedly entered without Arapu’s permission, and eventually found nearly 1.5 ounces of cocaine, a scale, baggies and a loaded handgun.

After the ruling, Chief Deputy District Attorney Arnold Mordkin, who told Nichols that he cannot prosecute Arapu without that evidence, filed a notice of appeal with the Colorado Supreme Court. That automatically stays all proceedings in the case, including a potential motion to dismiss.

“I don’t have any choice. I have to wait” for the state Supreme Court’s decision, Nichols said...."
(Chad Abraham)

(Read more?  Click title.  Comment to discuss)

"Truth goes through three stages. First it is ridiculed. Then it is violently opposed. Finally, it is accepted as self-evident."

SandBox Comments: Aspen Times "Paul Nitze: Cases lost the day they were filed"

We aren't sure if Paul Nitze, up on The Aspen Times, is now a former prosecutor or not.

He’s always been a favorite of ours because in our view, he’s one of those unapologetic liberals who actually walks a sort-of, kind-of middle line.

Something always appreciated by Independent Conservatives. 

His columns have always been political based and only once before has SandBox seen Nitze comment on his profession.  It was the Secure Communities column. 

He appears every other Saturday, up on The Aspen Times.  His column is usually published here on SandBox when he writes.

You see, the reason he's a favorite is because rational, logical liberals are just so very hard to find. 

His columns are anticipated and SandBox wishes he would consider writing more often.    

His column today is written from his ‘prosecutor with a pen’ style.


"...It's actually worse than that. If you don't have a strategy, litigation is a game of chicken that you have already lost.  That lesson was not absorbed by Aspen's chief deputy district attorney, Arnold Mordkin, who lost his cases against Marlin Brown and Erik Peltonen on Thursday....

...Mordkin was quoted as being “disappointed,” after yesterday's ruling, but that makes no sense. That's like saying you're “disappointed” you lost a baseball game after walking over to the umpire and forfeiting....

...That is how you keep a case from turning into a game of chicken....

...You do all that work because you owe it to the taxpayers not to waste their money on a dead-end case. You do it because charging someone criminally can ruin his life no matter what happens to the case; the stain of a criminal indictment lasts forever. You do it for the victims, who deserve the best effort you can muster....

...Lawyers for the Feuerbachs and Rittenours, the surviving relatives of the Lofgren family, will try to obtain the grand jury transcripts and use them in their civil lawsuits against Brown, Peltonen and others. Even if it is completely inadvertent, criminal charges that were defective on their face will now provide ammunition in a civil lawsuit..."
(Paul Nitze)

 

There is always a culture present that grows out of elected officials in any community.

 

Election cycles change, offices change and the leadership culture of the day shifts and changes.

 

There is a great deal of talk lately on getting the politics and the money out of areas that bring security to the lives of the folks.

 

People seem to be just sayin that they want more predictable, secure lives and they’re bone weary of the sprint just to stay at the top.

 

They seem to say that they could care less about the culture of any politician, any leader or any social platform that is aimed at forcing them to join in any one given ideology.

 

Especially when that ideology is aimed at their day-to-day security and such ideology results in irretrievable actions or errors that affect their lives.  At this moment, $500 million dollars to Solyndra with a potential $1 billion that might have come along behind it comes to mind.

 

Citizens are the one dynamic that really does not ever shift nor actually change.

 

To moderate news commentary is to facilitate commentators, not the news story.  There is no ability in this 9th to deny that they have created a culture in the district that in part, demands front and center stage.  In the world of fighting crime that is not always seen as a bad thing.

The political dynamic of the 9^th is easy to spot.

 

District Attorney Martin Beeson arrived on the scene by crafting a strategic political campaign to toss Colleen Truden.  Basically amounted to shooting himself out of a cannon  and waging what ended up as a recall war.

 

He made no effort nor does he apologize for not making the effort to let the folks have a chance to get to know him first.  Is that  fault?  A strategic error?  Or is it just a good man who knows himself well and feels as though everyone else should automatically be able to know the same.

 

Or is it simply a man who saw that his particular and unique skills, his way of being were potentially needed?  So he stepped up into a leadership role.  Where his political credit is at now and coming back to haunt him, is that whatever it was that made him initially go down the path of becoming the most powerful elected official in a three county radius without anyone knowing the man is what people see first.

 

He then moved rapidly on to greater ambitions and set himself up to race for the third congressional. 

 

Conservatives began to feel some unease at this point.  Which is a publicly known fact as one of the reasons Beeson dropped out.  Lots going on.

 

Politics at that level of national race is a marathon and could their sprinting D.A. stay the course?  Remembering back to the tone of commentary around the state after he tossed Truden, there was a general consensus that it probably wouldn’t matter that he was pretty much still a stranger to most. 

 

What kind of law enforcement we ended up with was for sure going to be at front and center stage anyway.

 

During roughly the same time frame, Garfield County Sheriff Lou Vallario vaulted himself into another part of the district political stage.  Ousting Dalessandri, Sheriff Lou has chosen a culture of careful planning and attention to details.  In the eyes of the folks out here in commentary, the pace he brings to the culture of the 9th is more of a fast walk.  Sheriff Vallario has a style far different than Martin Beeson.  The Sheriff takes his time, making the time, to connect with the job better than anyone ever has before him.  Yet his issue politically is roughly the same as Beeson.  The majority of the folks don’t know him personally, he is definitely not a politician.  After brutal campaigns, Vallario has now changed that and things seem to be going smoother for him.  A compassionate man with a tendency to wear his heart on his sleeve while his bulldog tenacity is visible instead.  GarCo Sheriff has actually become a culture within a culture.

 

Pitkin County contribution to the now starting to simmer culture of this D.A. was to see a very, very similar to Martin Beeson leadership style in former Pitkin County Sheriff Bob Braudis.  While at the same time these were two men so different from each other and worlds apart on ideology.  The icon that was Braudis enjoyed the same staff loyalty as Beeson.

 

If ever there was a connection not noted, it’s that one.  That they are two men who were really very much alike in many ways.  One of the ways that is proven is to observe the volatile degrees of attention from the public that both men command.

 

Insert newbie Joe DiSalvo to take over for that end of an era in PitCo as Braudis retired.  A new Sheriff who has a style that's somewhat hopelessly undefined at this time.  The question folks seem to have with DiSalvo is where does he fit in?

How does one sum up the political atmosphere of the 9th as we rapidly approach campaign declarations?

Again, Paul Nitze does that very well in his column today:

"...Building inspectors can face civil liability for failing their duties, but this may have been the first time in American history that an inspector was charged with criminally negligent homicide for this type of mistake. So it's fair to say that Mordkin was already swimming upstream when he decided to bring criminal charges.

And he doubled down by using a grand jury to bring the charges. These days, grand juries are more common on the big screen than in real life. In most states, Colorado included, grand juries are used sparingly. They have fallen into disuse because they suck up a lot of prosecutorial resources, but also because judges can view them with suspicion.

When a district attorney brings charges at the outer edge of the law via a grand jury, as Mordkin did here, it can look like he's bypassing normal procedure because he fears a judge might throw out the case. When a grand jury brings an indictment, the magistrate judge who would normally make a probable cause finding is cut out. It's also true that unusual cases are well-suited for grand juries, because they need the kind of preliminary investigation that grand juries provide, but it remains a risky business."
(Paul Nitze)

With that said, 'SandBox Nanny' observes a similar view as she had when the tragic case of little McKenzie Webster-Brown was in the news.  Her view at the time (now archived to hard copy) was the only public view in local media that spoke up reminding us all that we can't judge.  We can't know.  Not unless we have both sides to the story and know the heart of the people involved in order to know intent.  The elected seat of a prosecutor is held to the highest standard.  But that does not mean that prosecutors and law enforcement do not have the right to not be judged until the entire story is known. 

 

She can find nothing in the Nitze op-ed piece on Lofgren today that she disagrees with. 

 

Yet, she still finds a measure of wisdom in her commentary yesterday on the story itself.  Arnold Mordkin deserves privacy for his apology to the family.  The family deserves privacy as all move forward searching for peace.

It's good to hear in the Aspen Daily News follow-up today that D.A. Beeson is not going to allow this to move back into the courtroom and instead opt for letting the family move on.

Arnold Mordkin does owe an explanation to the general public in Paul Nitze' eyes.

SandBox agrees.

 

(Learn more?  Click title. Comment ability has always been blocked on this post)

"Truth goes through three stages. First it is ridiculed. Then it is violently opposed. Finally, it is accepted as self-evident."

SandBox Comments: Aspen Daily News "Judge unlikely to allow key evidence in pending cocaine case"

Evidence — including nearly 1.5 ounces of cocaine and a handgun — in the case against an Eastern European man will likely be suppressed today, according to a judge’s order released Wednesday.

Judge Gail Nichols of Pitkin County District Court wrote that Aspen police Detective Walter Chi unlawfully remained in the apartment of the suspect, Andrian Arapu, 25, of Moldova, after he was detained by immigration agents April 6. Nichols also cited the fact that other police officers and agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) entered the defendant’s apartment without permission.....

......Chief Deputy District Attorney Arnold Mordkin declined comment when asked if the warrant would hold up without Chi’s observations.

If both he and Van Ness “agree that, without the tainted information, the search warrant affidavit does not establish the requisite probable cause, the court will suppress the evidence of the gun and cocaine seen by Detective Chi ... and will also suppress the evidence seized as a result of the search warrant,” Nichols wrote...."
(Chad Abraham)

(Learn more?  Click title and comment to start discussion)

"Truth goes through three stages. First it is ridiculed. Then it is violently opposed. Finally, it is accepted as self-evident."

SandBox Comments: Aspen Daily News "High court won’t hear DA’s appeal of sanctions"

"The Colorado Supreme Court has refused to hear an appeal by the head prosecutor of the 9th Judicial District regarding sanctions handed down by a local judge.

For what she called a series of blatant missteps involving pretrial evidence in five cases, Judge Gail Nichols of Pitkin County District Court in August punished the Aspen district attorney’s office by quashing a statement made by the defendant in an aggravated motor-vehicle theft case.

The judge also said she would not allow police photographs to be used at the trial of Jesus Aguilera-Pimentel. Without the statement and the pictures, Chief Deputy District Attorney Arnold Mordkin said he could not prosecute Aguilera-Pimentel, 25, of Carbondale.

District Attorney Martin Beeson appealed the sanctions to the state high court on Sept. 28. His office was notified just two days later that justices would not be reviewing Nichols’ decision...."
(Chad Abraham)

(Learn more?  Click title and comment to start discussion)

"Truth goes through three stages. First it is ridiculed. Then it is violently opposed. Finally, it is accepted as self-evident."

SandBox Comments: Aspen Daily News "Legal teams argue over constitutionality of the police search in cocaine case"

"...Van Ness said his client was sophisticated when it came to knowing his rights, including making sure the gun and drugs were hidden as opposed to having them in plain sight, which would trigger a legal police search. Arapu had no motivation to let police into his home because those items were inside and because he was in the country illegally, the attorney said.

“Why he would invite Walter Chi in simply defies logic,” Van Ness said..."
(Chad Abraham)


(Learn more?  Click title or comment to start discussion)
"Truth goes through three stages. First it is ridiculed. Then violently opposed. Finally, it is accepted as self-evident."

SandBox Comments: Aspen Daily News "Officers: Cocaine suspect only allowed detective to enter his Main St. home"

"An Eastern European man who is the suspect in a cocaine case gave permission only to an Aspen police detective to enter his Main Street residence, law enforcement officers testified Friday.

But their testimony during an evidence-suppression hearing indicated that at least two federal immigration agents and a police officer besides the detective entered the suspect’s home...."
(Chad Abraham)


(Learn more?  Click title or comment to start discussion)

SandBox Comments: Aspen Daily News "Attorneys clash over assault charges against homeless man"

(Learn more?  Click title or comment to start discussion)