The state Supreme Court on Monday ordered a new sentencing hearing for a man convicted as a teen in the shotgun slayings of two Colorado Springs boys, saying the judge failed to fully explain his decision to sentence the man as an adult.
Gary Flakes was 16 when an accomplice killed Scott Hawrysiak, 15, and Andrew Westbay, 13, on Valentine’s Day in 1997. Flakes was convicted of criminally negligent homicide and accessory to murder and sentenced to 15 years in prison.
Flakes and Jeron Grant, who was 17 at the time of the killings, were charged with first-degree murder. Grant was convicted of accessory to second-degree murder and accessory to manslaughter and was sentenced to 12 years in prison.
Prosecutors said Flakes and Grant set out to shoot someone and randomly picked the two boys.
In his appeal, Flakes’ attorneys said the trial judge failed to consider sentencing him as a juvenile.
In a 6-0 ruling with one justice not participating, the Supreme Court also rejected arguments that the law under which Flakes was charged as an adult in district court was unconstitutional.
BOULDER
Man gets sex charge in dormitory entry
A Boulder County man was arrested Friday for entering University of Colorado at Boulder residence halls, acting drunk and attempting to climb into bed with female students, police said.
Police arrested Christopher Fredrick Ferguson, 20, and he is charged with burglary, unlawful sexual contact and harassment, said CU police Commander Brad Wiesley.
Ferguson, who is being held on $20,000 bail, is not affiliated with CU, according to Wiesley and a news release.
DENVER
Hayman fire’s culprit appeals plea ruling
A woman who admitted starting the worst wildfire in Colorado’s recorded history has appealed a judge’s ruling that said prosecutors could withdraw from her plea agreement, possibly leading to a new trial – and a longer prison term.
Colorado’s Supreme Court has ordered prosecutors to explain why they believe the ruling should stand.
The appeal by the attorney for Terry Lynn Barton, filed last week, prompted Teller County District Judge Thomas Kennedy to reschedule a Monday hearing set to discuss the possibility of a new trial.
Kennedy ruled Feb. 5 that Barton violated terms of her plea agreement when she appealed her 12-year prison sentence, opening the way for prosecutors to withdraw the agreement. Barton pleaded guilty to state and federal arson charges after admitting she set the fire by burning a letter in a drought-stricken area. She is serving a 6-year federal sentence.
ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK
Trail Ridge Road to get summer repairs
Major road work is scheduled this spring for Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park, park officials said Monday.
Trail Ridge Road is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year, but it needs work that is long overdue, officials said.
The project will focus on critical repairs such as resurfacing the road from Deer Ridge Junction to Rainbow Curve, and six roadway slump repairs between Forest Canyon Overlook and the Colorado River Trailhead.
Because Trail Ridge Road reaches an elevation of 12,183 feet, the only time to do work is during the summer.
DENVER
DU given $5 million in lupus grad’s name
The parents of a University of Denver graduate afflicted with lupus has donated $5 million for the university’s College of Education and its Learning Effectiveness Program, officials announced Monday.
Joan and Mike Ruffatto of Denver made the donation in December in honor of their daughter, Katherine, who graduated in 2005 with a degree in biology and went through the Learning Effectiveness Program.
The money will go toward the construction of a building for the College of Education and will bear the name Katherine A. Ruffatto Hall, DU officials said. The building will be constructed on East Evans Avenue between South Race and South High streets, officials said.
At age 12, Katherine Ruffatto was diagnosed with lupus and required special help from the program to be enrolled at the school.
DENVER
Ex-firefighter loses bid for arms retrial
A federal judge on Monday rejected a former Denver firefighter’s request for a new trial on weapons charges, saying while the government withheld evidence, it would not have helped him win acquittal.
Under the ruling, the court will schedule a sentencing date for Stan Ford, 36, who was convicted in June of selling a machine gun but acquitted on three other weapons charges.
Ford faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.
After his conviction, Ford asked U.S. District Judge Robert Blackburn for a new trial.
He argued that prosecutors withheld e-mails between him and Keith Heavilin, a confidential informant, that could have proved that Ford was entrapped by Heavilin, who sold him an illegal machine gun.
Ford argued he considered Heavilin a father figure and was particularly susceptible to Heavilin’s suggestions that Ford said pushed him into selling a machine gun.
Three e-mail messages “arguably favorable” to Ford were withheld by prosecutors, but none of them would have helped his case enough to justify a new trial, the judge wrote.
Evidence that was available to Ford during his trial permitted him to adequately argue “his unwillingness and inability to satisfy” Heavilin’s efforts to buy a machine gun, Blackburn wrote.
DENVER
3 Latinos will receive awards for service
The Denver Public Library Commission’s Latino Leadership Awards committee will honor a former Denver mayor, a social worker and a physician assistant at a banquet next month.
Former Mayor Federico Peña and Flora Rodriguez Russel, a psychiatric social worker and lawyer who has lived in Denver for 43 years, are being awarded the Cesar Chavez Leadership Hall of Fame award.
Magdalena Aguayo is being awarded the Lena L. Archuleta Community Service Award for her 25 years of work as a physician assistant at Denver Health’s Sandos Westside Family Health Center.
