DEATH PENALTY DROPPED IN KILLING OF DEPUTY
TY» The 24
ADAMS CO UN year-old man accused of killing an Adams County sheriff’s deputy no longer faces the death penalty, District Judge Mark Warner ruled Wednesday.
The judge granted a petition filed by 17th Judicial District Attorney
Dave Young on Monday asking that the death penalty option be withdrawn from the case. Young wrote in the motion that seeking the death penalty was pointless because
Gov. Jared Polis has shown that he will commute any death sentences in the state to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
The state abolished the death penalty in a historic vote last month, but the repeal applies only to cases filed on or after July 1, so Dreion Dearing, who is charged with killing Deputy Heath Gumm during a chase in 2018, remained eligible for the penalty.
When Polis signed the repeal into law, he also commuted the sentences of the three Colorado men who were on death row.
Also on Wednesday, Warner further delayed Dearing’s trial — which had started with jury selection in early March — because of concerns about the pandemic.
Three-vehicle crash kills one, closes I-76. One person was killed in a threevehicle crash on eastbound I-76 on Wednesday morning near I-270.
The State Patrol received a call about a crash at 11:42 a.m., Trooper Josh Lewis said. The crash involved a 2008 Mazda sedan, a 2016 Chevy van and a 2016 Dodge pickup. The Mazda driver, who has not been identified, was declared dead at the scene.
The Chevy van driver was transported to a hospital with injuries believed to be minor, Lewis said. The pickup driver showed no serious injuries. Girl Scouts of New Mexico donating cookies for truck drivers.
A LBUQU E RQU » The Girl Scouts of E
New Mexico Trails have announced a partnership with Love’s Travel Stops aimed at donating cookies to truck drivers.
The state’s Girl Scouts said this week they wanted to show appreciation for truck drivers who are delivering critical supplies during the pandemic.
The group says Donations for Drivers allows individuals and businesses to say thank you by donating boxes of cookies that will be given to drivers at Love’s Travel Stops along Interstate 40 in New Mexico.
City suspends disposable-bag fee amid pandemic. » City
BO U LDE R
Manager Jane Brautigam suspended a 10-cent fee on disposable bags Thursday in line with guidance from Gov. Jared Polis.
Reusable bags can carry the coronavirus on their surface, a city news release said, and single-use bags may help prevent transmission between grocery store customers and employees. The fee adopted in 2012 will not be in effect for the next 30 days, the news release said.
The city encourages grocery patrons who continue with reusable bags to wash them before and after store trips in hot, soapy water to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
“Grocery stores are critical to the functioning of our community,” a news release said. “During the current pandemic, the health of employees and customers is a top priority. The city decided to pause collection of the fee to support those who choose to use disposable bags during this time.”
Wyoming asks U.S. Supreme Court to deny death row appeal.
» Wyoming’s attorney C ASP E R general asked the U.S. Supreme Court to deny a death row inmate’s request for appeal, arguing he did not preserve his ability to appeal the case.
Dale Wayne Eaton, 75, asked the country’s highest court in February to take his case, arguing his trial attorney failed to investigate his competence to stand trial, the Casper Star-Tribune reported Monday.
Prosecutors indicated last year in state court they intend to have Eaton put to death. He was convicted for the 1988 kidnapping, rape and murder of Lisa Marie Kimmell, who disappeared while driving from Colorado to Montana. The teenager’s body was found in the North Platte River.
Eaton was convicted in 1998 in a separate assault case. Wyoming authorities collected Eaton’s DNA and found that it linked him to Kimmell’s body.
Jurors convicted Eaton in 2004 of premeditated murder, felony murder, aggravated kidnapping, aggravated robbery and sexual assault. A federal appeals court threw out Eaton’s sentence in 2014 and he remains incarcerated, while awaiting a new sentence.