Zeb Pike, court watcher

Hello court watchers,

The week ahead looks to an unusually busy one in the Fourth Judicial District with as many as three fairly high profile trials scheduled to begin Monday. Among them:

-Thomas Woolly, a Fort Carson soldier accused of manslaughter in the fatal shooting of a 19-year-old woman in a Colorado Springs apartment. Here’s an earlier story on the case.

-Aylais “Buddy” Oliver, a Security man accused of first-degree murder in the shooting death of his son during an argument over the Thanksgiving weekend in 2009. Here’s my most recent story on the case.

-Richard L. Riley, a parole officer accused of sexual assaulting a woman whose parole he was assigned to oversee. This is a retrial. Here’s a story from the first trial.

Also this week:

On Monday, Judge David Shakes is scheduled to rule on a request to exclude from evidence a videotaped interview with a 14-year-old boy accused of killing his younger brother and wounding their mother. Here’s my story about the case.

On Thursday, Judge Barney Iuppa is scheduled to impose a mandatory life sentence on Willie B. Allmon. A jury found Allmon guilty of the rape/murder of his 8-month-old grandson. This will be a chance for the boy’s mother and grandmother to have their say. Here’s my story on the verdict.

And on Friday, there’s a review hearing for Bruce Nozolino, the Colorado Springs anti-tax activist accused of killing one man in Stetson Hills and trying to kill his ex-wife’s divorce lawyer and the judge in the case. This is expected to be the first hearing where prosecutors outline their evidence against Nozolino. Here’s my most recent story on the case.

Keep in mind, trials and other hearings frequently are delayed or postponed. So what you see here may not happen. But even if only 1 or 2 of these trials gets underway, it will be a busy week.

Do you know of a court case I ought to be covering? Let me know. My e-mail is john.ensslin@gazette.com

John C. Ensslin

Legal Affairs reporter

The Gazette

The week ahead is a post from: The Sidebar

The Crime: On May 18, 2009, Colorado Springs police arrested a 13-year-old boy on charges that he shot and killed his 9-year-old brother and then wounded their mother in the family’s home in the 1800 block of Chapel Hills Drive.

The Defendant: Daniel Gudino, now 14, is being tried as a juvenile on charges of first-degree murder and attempted murder. His public defender previously has argued that the boy suffers from a mental illness and may have been sleepwalking when the shootings occurred.

What happened today: Gudino’s attorney asked that the boy’s videotaped interview with a Colorado Springs Police detective at the police station on the day of the shootings be excluded from evidence.

Deputy Public Defender Noreen Simpson argued that the boy’s father Ulysses Gudino Sr. was too distraught to adequately advise his son of his legal rights.

Both father and son waived the son’s right to have an attorney present during the interview and for the son to be interviewed without the father present in the room. Instead, the father was taken to another room where he could monitor the interview on a video screen.

Ulysses Gudino Sr. testified that he asked another police detective to halt the interview while it was in progress. That detective testified that the father made no such request.

What’s next:  Fourth Judicial District Judge David L. Shakes said he will rule on the request Monday morning. The trial is scheduled for Jan. 25.

Update: Defense wants 14-year-old’s interview tossed is a post from: The Sidebar

Click here to view the embedded video.

Know of a court case I ought to be covering? Let me know. My e-mail: john.ensslin@gazette.com

John C. Ensslin

Legal Affairs reporter

The Gazette

The Daily Docket is a post from: The Sidebar

Zeb Pike, court watcher

Hello court watchers,

Here’s a peek at the week ahead in the Fourth Judicial District.

On Monday, there’s a plea and sentencing hearing scheduled for Terri Thomas, a veteran court employee who is charged with identity theft. Here’s my earlier story on the case.  

On Wednesday, a preliminary hearing continues for Miguel Marin and Cynthia Balestier, who are accused of first-degree murder in the fatal shooting of a man outside El Ranchito restaurant. This is a continuation of a hearing that began last week. Here’s an earlier story on the case.

Also on Wednesday, there’s a preliminary hearing scheduled for Emilio Ruiz, who is accused in the fatal stabbing of his roommate. Here’s an earlier story on the case.  

Thursday will be a busy day. First, there’s a disposition hearing scheduled for Todd McKeel, who is accused of kidnapping and assaulting his former girlfriend. I wrote this story after the Supreme Court sent the case back for a jury trial.

Next, there’s a sentencing hearing for Evelyn Solano, a former bank manager accused of taking part in the robbery of her own bank. Here’s a story about her arrest.  

Also on Thursday, there’s a preliminary hearing scheduled for John P. Winkler, who was arrested on suspected parole violations. Winkler allegedly threatened officers after his son jumped out of an unmarked patrol car and was killed in traffic. Here’s our earlier story on the case.

Please bear in mind that court hearings often are postponed and delayed. So what you see here may not happen.

If you know of a court story not listed here that I ought to be covering, let me know. My e-mail: john.ensslin@gazette.com

John C. Ensslin

Legal Affairs reporter

The Gazette

The week ahead is a post from: The Sidebar

Here’s some reaction from Senior Deputy District Attorney Laurel Huston, moments after a jury convicted Willie B. Allmon on all charges in the rape-murder of his grandson.

Laurel is a bit soft-spoken, so you might want to turn up the volume.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Also here is Laurel answering a question from a reporter out in the hallway.

Neither the Allmon family nor Willie Allmon’s public defenders were available for comment after the verdict.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Reaction to the Allmon verdict is a post from: The Sidebar

Click here to view the embedded video.

Know of a court story I ought to be covering? Let me know. My e-mail: john.ensslin@gazette.com

John C. Ensslin

Legal Affairs reporter

The Gazette

The Daily Docket is a post from: The Sidebar

Willie Allmon (left) and Deputy Public Defender Todd Johnson. Photo by Mark Reis/Gazette

A cell phone trail

Both sides in the first-degree murder/sex assault trial of Willie B. Allmon made use of an extensive record of phone call and text messages between his daughter Felicia Allmon and her ex-boyfriend.

 Deputy District Attorney Melissa Young used the tower locations of the calls to track Felicia Allmon’s 14-hour drive from Killeen, Texas to Colorado Springs as a way to prove her whereabouts.

On the morning her 8-month-old son Isiah was killed, those calls showed she was heading to her mother’s house an hour before her father called to report Isiah had stopped breathing. That meant the boy was alone with his grandfather at Willie Allmon’s Widefield home for the hour in which prosecutors say the child was fatally injured.

Deputy Public Defender Todd Johnson used the sheer volume of calls and messages to illustrate the turmoil of Felicia Allmon’s life in the hours leading up to her son’s death.

Felicia Allmon testified during the trial that her relationship with Isiah’s dad was over. She also said they were able to settle a dispute over the Pontiac she used to drive Isiah and his older brother to Colorado.

Johnson challenged that testimony by going one-by-one through the call record.

“Look at that,” he said, showing the calls on a projector screen. “This isn’t over folks.”

What the video said (or didn’t)

Both sides also gave their own interpretation of the 3 hour plus videotaped interrogation of Willie Allmon by El Paso County Detective Bill Otto.

Johnson asked the jurors to remember how Allmon was trying to provide an explanation after Otto tells him of the boy’s severe injuries.

“You saw Willie Allmon struggling with that,” Johnson said. “You saw Willie Allmon trying to figure out what had happened.”

“He’s praying to God to help him understand what happened on his watch based upon incomplete information and inaccurate information,” Johnson said.

Deputy District Attorney Laurel Huston

Deputy District Attorney Laurel Huston had a different view of the tape.

“He’s struggling in the video because the story he was telling everybody wasn’t adding up,” she said.

Huston also pointed out something not in the video or in Allmon’s other statements.

She said he never asked about how Isiah was doing.

The trial resumes at 8:30 a.m. tomorrow. Stay with The Sidebar for updates and the verdict.

Notes on the Allmon trial is a post from: The Sidebar

Deputy District Attorney Melissa Young. Photo by Mark Reis/Gazette

Background: Willie B. Allmon, 52, of Widefield is on trial on charges of first-degree murder and sexual assault on a child in the May 18, 2009 fatal beating of his 8-month-old grandson Isiah Wilson.

What happened: After nine days of testimony, the jury heard closing arguments this morning.

Deputy District Attorney Melissa Young told the jurors that Allmon is the only person responsible for the child’s injuries.

She disputed his explanations that he passed out and fell on the child while changing a diaper or accidently bumped the boy’s head on a kitchen counter.

“We know that the defendant’s explanations for the injuries that the child suffered don’t make sense,” Young said.

“This was not one minor act. This was significant force,” she continued. “It’s from a slam. It’s from a throw. It’s from a hit. It’s from some sort of blunt force trauma.”

Young reminded the jury that medical witnesses testified that the boy’s injuries occurred within an hour of his arrival at Memorial Hospital. That was a period in which Allmon had been left alone to care for the child.

Deputy Public Defender Todd Johnson. Photo by Mark Reis/Gazette

Deputy Public Defender Todd Johnson agreed that’s Isiah’s death was not an accident. But he argued that Allmon’s daughter Felicia, the child’s mother, was the more likely suspect.

“Isiah died from child abuse. No ifs, ands or buts about it,” Johnson said.

“Willie Allmon was just a sick man trying to help his daughter because Felicia Allmon was in an extremely difficult emotional situation,” he added.

Johnson recalled how Felicia Allmon had just broken up with Isiah’s father Jarried Wilson and had drove back to Colorado Springs from Killeen, Texas, where Wilson was based at Fort Hood.

Johnson described a constant stream of phone calls and text messages in which Felicia Allmon and Wilson were arguing about the car she had used to drive back to Colorado. Johnson also recalled how Felicia Allmon’s mother had been filing complaints against Wilson with his Army superiors.

“Felicia Allmon had lost control of her life,” Johnson told the jurors.

“The evidence points to Felicia Allmon,” he later added. “Felicia Allmon was the one who was stressed. She’s the one who’s life was being torn apart…She’s the one who had been up all night,”

“No one is saying she’s cold, evil or didn’t care,” he added. “But sometimes normal people do abnormal things when they are in stressful situations that are spinning out of control.”

What’s next: The 9-man, 3-woman jury began deliberating shortly after noon. Stay tuned to the Sidebar and gazette.com for updates and the verdict.

Jury deliberating grandfather rape/murder trial is a post from: The Sidebar

Click here to view the embedded video.

Know of a court story I should be covering? Let me know. My e-mail: john.ensslin@gazette.com

John C. Ensslin

Legal Affairs reporter

The Gazette

The Daily Docket is a post from: The Sidebar

Willie B. Allmon (left) and Deputy Public Defender Todd Johnson. Photo by Mark Reis/Gazette

The first-degree murder and sex assault trial of Willie B. Allmon is nearing the end.

After nearly 8 and one-half days of testimony, the prosecution rested its case on Monday.

Allmon’s public defenders will present their evidence this afternoon.

Closing arguments are likely to start Tuesday morning.

Allmon, a 52-year-old retired Army sergeant from Widefield, is accused in the fatal beating and sex assault of his 8-month-old grandson Isiah Wilson.

Stay with The Sidebar and gazette.com for the outcome.

Allmon trial nearing the end is a post from: The Sidebar