And all because of that flu that’s being doing the rounds recently.
Well, that and because some cuck in government decided to abolish the death penalty in Colorado.
A mistrial has been declared in the trial for the man accused of killing Adams County Deputy Heath Gumm in January 2018 — and it’s partially due to the COVID-19 outbreak and a late decision to no longer seek the death penalty, according to court documents.
Jury selection began in the trial of Dreion Dearing on March 9. He’s charged with first-degree murder, and prosecutors initially planned to seek the death penalty in the case. On March 30, they decided to no longer pursue that option after Gov. Jared Polis signed a bill into law abolishing the death penalty in Colorado.
“In theory the new legislation did not prevent the prosecution from seeking the death penalty in this particular trial,” said 9NEWS legal expert Scott Robinson. “The problem is, the likelihood that the sentence would be commuted anyway.”
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Gumm, 31, was searching for a suspect related to an assault call on Jan. 24, 2018, when he was shot and killed. He is survived by his wife, Natasha, and had been a sheriff’s deputy at the Adams County Sheriff’s Office (ACSO) since 2012, according to the agency. He was posthumously promoted to detective.
Deputies responded to an assault call just before 7 p.m. on that January night in the 8700 block of Dawson Street, which is in a neighborhood just east of Interstate 25 and 88th Avenue.
When deputies arrived, they learned the assault suspect had left and they began a search for him. When they found someone matching his description, the ACSO said he ran from deputies, leading them behind a house.
The suspect, later identified as Dreion Dearing, then turned and fired on them, hitting Gumm in the chest, according to investigators.
In the judge’s order declaring the mistrial, it was noted that “the current pandemic and the resulting preventative measures (the stay-at-home order) impact the public’s access to this trial, affect the jury pool and create prejudice and fear in prospective jurors forced to come into the courthouse.”
It included numerous emails from prospective jurors who said they feared for their safety or the safety of loved ones due to their age or preexisting health conditions.
…
Some of the prospective jurors “broke down and cried” while filling out the juror questionnaire or called in later crying about the possibility of having to return because of their fear of COVID-19, according to the court documents.
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