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Know of a court story I ought be covering? Let me know. My e-mail: john.ensslin@gazette.com
Know of a court story I ought be covering? Let me know. My e-mail: john.ensslin@gazette.com
Know of a court story I ought to be covering? Let me know. E-mail me at john.ensslin@gazette.com
Zeb Pike, court watcher
Hello Court Watchers,
Here’s a preview of some of the cases I’ll be watching in court this week.
The first-degree murder trial of Derek Lee Hernandez enters its second week on Tuesday.
Here’s a link to the story I wrote on opening statements in the trial.
There’s also a motions hearing on Tuesday for Delroy Henry, a staff sergeant at Fort Carson who is accused of bilking his fellow soldiers out of thousands of dollars. Here a link to a story I wrote when the charges were filed.
On Wednesday, there’s a motions hearing for Robert Hull Marko, a Fort Carson soldier accused of killing a woman he met on the Internet.
Here’s the most recent story I wrote about Marko when he pleaded not-guilty by reason of insanity.
On Friday, there are several hearings. One is for Willie B. Allmon, a Widefield man accused of sexually assaulting and killing his 8-month-old grandson.
Here’s an update I filed after a judge ordered him to stand trial.
There’s also a motions hearings for Landco Equity Partners executives Raymond Marshall and James Brodie, who are accused of theft and securities fraud.
Here’s a link to my most recent story about the case.
And finally, Bruce Nozolino, the anti-tax activist accused of killing one man and trying to kill a judge and a lawyer, has a status conference on Friday.
Here’s the most recent story I wrote on the case, when a judge ruled Nozolino was entitled to a public defender.
Keep in mind, the docket and reality are not always the same. Many hearings get postponed or rescheduled.
Is there a case I’m missing here? If so, let me know. My e-mail is john.ensslin@gazette.com
Kandin Eric Wilson
Kandin Eric Wilson said he does not intend to testify in his own defense Friday when testimony wraps up in his first-degree murder trial.
Wilson, 29, told 4th Judicial District Judge David L. Shakes of his decision after the judge advised him on his options, a standard procedure.
“I understand fully judge,” Wilson said.
The decision is not surprising. Had Wilson opted to take the witness stand, prosecutors could have asked him about his three prior felony convictions for theft, trespass and giving false information to a pawn broker.
Wilson’s attorney Philip Dubois has challenged the identification made of his client by the victim’s boyfriend.
The last defense witness Friday was Edie Greene, a professor of psychology at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs.
Greene testified about memory recall after traumatic events, which she studies. She said memories formed under stress are more easily influenced than unstressed memories, so eyewitness recall of events can sometimes be false.
In addition, eyewitnesses sometimes falsely identify suspects from police lineups.
“Our memories are not like a videotape. We don’t record things … and push a button and get them back,” she said. “Instead, our memories are created, reconstructed.”
On Thursday, the jury heard testimony from a cell phone company representative who described how signals from Wilson’s cell phone number bounced off certain towers. Police contend the locations of those towers contradict Wilson’s claim that he was at home when the shooting occurred.
Wilson is accused of first-degree murder and aggravated robbery in the Sept. 27 shooting of Susana Pelayo-Perez, 35, in the parking lot of the Shannon Glen apartments at 260 N. Murray Blvd.
Prosecutors Thursday agreed to drop one of the charges against Wilson, an aggravated robbery count that accused him of have “an armed confederate.”
Deputy District Attorney Nathan Whitney said there was no evidence that Wilson’s co-defendant Kyle Robert Gray had a gun during the shooting.
Gray took a plea deal that required him to testify against Wilson, who had the nickname “Trailer”. Gray said he drove the car while Wilson fired one shot from a .40 caliber semi-automatic handgun that killed Pelayo-Perez.
If the jury finds Wilson guilty on first-degree murder charge, he faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole. Prosecutors have also charged him with being a habitual criminal because of his prior felonies.
If Shakes were to find Wilson guilty of those counts in a later hearing, it could increase his sentence.
(Ruth Moon contributed to this post.)
Here’s a link to a related story:
http://www.gazette.com/articles/meylan-95696-years-hearing.html
Here are links to previous stories about these cases:
Timothy Fogle:
http://www.gazette.com/articles/fogle-95588-hare-jury.html
Martin Mendiola:
http://www.gazette.com/articles/inmates-91916-year-details.html
Sandra Clamon was one of the 97 people, mostly military, whom prosecutors identified Friday as the victims of a Ponzi scheme that costs them hundreds of thousands of dollar.
Here, Clamon talks about how she and her husband Charles had invested with Delroy Henry, a staff sergeant who had served with Sandra Clamon in Iraq.
Their suspicious grew when Henry stopped sending them quarterly reports on their investments.
When they tried to withdraw their money, Charles Clamon said Henry hand delivered a check for $53,000. It bounced.
That’s when the couple approached an investigator with the Army’s Criminal Investigations Division. By then CID investigators had already been investigating a similar complaint from another retired soldier.
Sandra Clamon, who was born in Croatia, was honorable discharged in 2007 after one tour of duty in Iraq. Here she talks about her sense of being betrayed by Henry, a decorated Army medic whom she considered a friend.