After a public defender’s fiery plea on behalf dragging-death suspect Detra Farries, a judge on Wednesday ordered a last-minute inquiry into missing DVDs that could be helpful to her defense.

Fourth Judicial District Judge Jann P. DuBois ordered the review for 8:30 a.m. Monday — the morning jury selection for her trial is to begin.

DuBois’ ruling came after public defender Jeremy Loew suggested that prosecutors want to throw the book at

Detra Dione Farries

Farries but don’t think it’s important to preserve evidence for the other side.

“When is enough enough?” Loew thundered at the pretrial hearing, directing sharp criticism at the 4th Judicial District Attorney’s Office and calling the missing police videos the “crux” of Farries’ defense.

The case brings out the latest complaint over missing evidence or problems turning over evidence in several major prosecutions in El Paso County.

For more on this story, please visit gazette.com.

A man accused of fatally injuring his 4-month-old son was granted a trial delay Monday while his attorneys attempt to hash out a deal, court records show.

James Pierce, who was due for a Jan. 30 trial, will instead pursue mediation with prosecutors who are pursuing

James Pierce

first-degree murder charges against him.

Pierce said his son Jayden tumbled onto a carpeted floor, but an El Paso County deputy coroner testified in August the fall couldn’t explain the severity of the boy’s injuries. Jayden died April 15.

Pierce was re-scheduled for a June 4 trial if the negotiations are unsuccessful, court records show.

The Pierce case is part of a string of child homicides that authorities say pushed the city into record-breaking territory for slayings.

Of last year’s 32 homicides, seven involved child victims.

A man who helped plot a 2010 drug robbery that led to a shooting death in Colorado Springs will serve a three-year deferred sentence under a plea deal approved by a judge Wednesday, court records show

Quenten Heard, 23, must also serve 250 hours of community service and submit to urinalysis testing every 60 days for a year. The terms were imposed by Fourth Judicial District Judge Barbara Hughes.

Heard pleaded guilty earlier this year to helping plan a medical marijuana robbery that resulted in the July 29, 2010, death of Timothy Brooks Roath at Park Ridge Apartments near Maizeland Road and Academy Boulevard.

Roath, a marijuana provider, was shot by a friend who was trying to protect him from an armed robber, according to court documents.

Four men were charged in the robbery plot, accused of working together to set up a bogus marijuana sale to grab Roath’s backpack containing 4 ounces of marijuana.

The alleged robber, Kirby Braithwaite, 26, is serving a 30-year prison sentence after pleading guilty in June to two counts of attempted aggravated robbery. Anthony Swindle, 20, has pleaded also pleaded guilty to attempted aggravated robbery and is due to return to court in February

Prosecutors quietly dropped charges another defendant, Tramell Thomas, in early December, records show. Thomas was accused of supplying the men with the .38 revolver Braithwaite used to threaten Roath.

A spokeswoman for the 4th Judicial District Attorney’s Office couldn’t immediately say why charges were dismissed against Thomas.

Friday is going to be a humdinger around here.

Zeb Pike, court watcher

(That’s a journalism term that means I’ll need help for the day.)

Be sure to check The Gazette for updates on:

– Closing arguments in the Ricardo Chalchi-Sevilla murder case

– Three preliminary hearings for four murder defendants

– Bond hearing and pre-trial readiness for Joshua Carrier

– A sentencing hearing for George Peters, who was found guilty of child abuse resulting in death (and acquitted of first-degree murder)

I have called in two of my able-bodied colleagues pitch in for the day, so our hope is to capture as much of the day’s news as possible.

Here’s to hoping you’ll be checking us out!

–

Lance Benzel

lance.benzel@gazette.com

Facebook: Gazette Lance Benzel

Twitter: @lancebenzel

In Tuesday’s paper, I wrote about Jason O. Gaulden, an up-and-comer in city’s nonprofit world who was scheduled for an April trial Monday more than than two years after his arrest on suspicion of sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl.

Jason O. Gaulden, 34

Unfortunately, the story was short on details about another sexual assault charge lodged against Gaulden in 2010.

Here’s a quick update based on an arrest affidavit.

According to police, the accuser in the later case is an adult woman who stepped forward in May 2009 around the time media outlets were reporting on Gaulden’s arrest.

The woman – whose age was blacked out – accused Gaulden of sexually assaulting her in her sleep in July 2005.

The woman said she decided against going to authorities in 2005 because Gaulden, an ex-boyfriend, acknowledged what he had done was wrong and told her that he “needed counseling.” The two had been considering getting back together, but the woman said was clear with Gaulden that she wasn’t ready to have an intimate relationship.

She told police she changed her mind after learning about the new accuser.

“After hearing of the arrest, (she) said she was having a very hard time dealing with the guilt,” detective Paul Patton wrote in an arrest affidavit. “(She) said she could have prevented the young victim from being hurt by Mr. Gaulden had she reported her sexual assault sooner.”

The Gazette, which  generally doesn’t identify accusers in sex assault cases, is withholding some other details to protect her identity.

A man was charged Wednesday in a crime spree that began and ended with visits to a McDonald’s in west Colorado Springs.

Benjamin Martinez, 30, faces two counts of aggravated robbery, two counts of menacing and one count of crime of violence, a sentence enhancer, after his Nov. 28 arrest in Colorado Springs.

Martinez is accused of forcing a motorist off the road in the 300 block of North Nevada Avenue about 9 p.m. Police allege he pistol-whipped the driver through the driver’s side window before leaving with a wallet a phone.

But according to authorities, the trouble began nearly four hours earlier, when Martinez allegedly pulled a handgun on an employee in the drive-thru lane at a McDonald’s, 3021 W. Colorado Ave.

Employees told police that Martinez had been causing problems and lashed out when an employee was sent to investigate.

A police officer was reviewing surveillance footage of the incident when Martinez returned to the restaurant about 10:40 p.m., police said. He was taken into custody and booked into El Paso County jail, where he remains on a $25,000 bond.

Police said they found a BB handgun in Martinez’s car after his arrest.

Martinez is due to return to court on Dec. 13.

UPDATE: A jury Wednesday convicted Clark on all charges related to the Wells Fargo robbery but acquitted him on counts related to the Key Bank robbery.  He was also found guilty of tampering. (Please excuse this tardy update.  Technical difficulties prevented my story from getting posted online! Link to follow…)

Is Victor Clark the ringleader behind a pair of bank robberies in Colorado Springs, or a victim of a botched police investigation?

Victor Clark, 33, of Colorado Springs

A jury began debating that question Tuesday after closing arguments in which prosecutors described Clark, a convicted bank robber, as a schemer who planned the 2010 heists while directing others to do his dirty work.

Defense attorney Shimon Kohn said prosecutors failed to produce credible evidence during the weeklong trial.

Kohn told the jury that police relied on three co-defendants who lied about Clark in exchange for lighter sentences. Kohn said the detectives ignored inconsistencies in their accounts that prove Clark’s innocence.

The defense also faulted investigators for failing to conduct a handwriting analysis to establish that he was the author of a letter that urged a fellow suspect to lie about Clark’s involvement.

Clark, 33, faces more than a dozen felony counts, among them aggravated robbery, conspiracy, menacing and second-degree kidnapping. Although he didn’t enter either bank, Clark would be legally accountable for everything that happened inside if a jury found that he participated in the planning.

The case involves a Jan. 15 robbery at a Wells Fargo at 410 S. Cascade St. and an April 30, 2010 robbery at a Key Bank in the Mission Trace Shopping Center in the 3000 block of South Academy Boulevard.

Authorities said Clark operated at a shop in the same strip mall, allowing him to monitor comings and goings at the Key Bank from inside his store.

The heist at the Wells Fargo included an “inside man” who posed as a customer during the robbery, prosecutors say. The kidnapping charge relates to an allegation that someone was forced to leave an office and lie down on the bank floor.

The jury was sent home at 5 p.m. and will resume deliberations today.

Clark was convicted in 2005 of a robbery at an Ent Credit Union on West Colorado Avenue. He awaits the jury’s verdict on a $750,000 bond.

Slogan on a court visitor’s T-shirt:

“I’m available but don’t tell my girlfriend.”

Mary Horsley — set for trial today — will now face a jury on March 6, court records show.

Horsley is one of two women charged in an April attack on 20-month-old Samantha Salaz, who was bound with tape and left in a running shower as punishment for spilling Horsley’s drink, authorities allege.

The child nearly drowned and suffers severe brain damage, family members say.

The girl’s mother, Samantha Salaz, was sentenced to 24 years in prison last September after taking a plea deal in which she admitted failing to intervene. Salaz, 19, is expected to testify against Horsley.

The trial was postponed to allow Horsley’s defense attorney more time to prepare a defense for a new charge prosecutors recently added against her. The allegations are based on information Salaz supplied police after taking a plea.

Greetings, court watchers.

Zeb Pike, court watcher

This week holds the possibility of a disposition in the case against Colorado Springs police officer Sidney Huffman, as well as another chapter in the ongoing prosecution of murder suspect Bruce Nozolino.

Here are the details, but remember that not everything happens as scheduled.

Tuesday

At 9 a.m. in Division 14, bank robbery suspect Victor Clark is due in court for a bond hearing. His trial is to begin Friday.

Wednesday

At 8:30 a.m. in Division 17, Colorado Springs police officer Sidney Huffman is due for a disposition hearing. She’s accused of lying to authorities about an attack by an ex-boyfriend and former Manitou Springs police officer.

At 9 a.m. in Division 4, Mario Nichols is scheduled to appear for a motions hearing. He’s accused of murder in the Dec. 7 shooting death of Domanique Griffin.

Thursday

At 8:30 a.m. in Division D, former El Paso County sheriff’s deputy Rodney Fannin is due in court for a pretrial conference. He is charged with careless driving in the Aug. 8 death of Air Force Capt. Vivian Elmo.

Friday

At 9 a.m. in Division 14, a jury trial is expected to begin for bank robbery suspect Victor Clark. He’s been named the ringleader in a robbery spree that hit several local banks.

At 9 a.m. in Division 14, Bruce Nozolino is due for motions and arraignment. He was indicted in 2010 on charges of murder and attempted murder in a series of shootings that grew out of one of the biggest divorce cases in El Paso County history.