Willie DeWayne Clark’s attorney indicated that her client is a suspect in the slaying of Denver Broncos player Darrent Williams, and she needs help representing him.
Alaurice Tafoya-Modi filed a motion Friday asking for co-counsel assistance because the case is “extremely difficult.” But U.S. District Court Judge Boyd N. Boland denied it Monday, calling the request premature.
Denver police sources have said that Clark was inside the white Chevrolet Tahoe from which the shots were fired that killed Williams in a New Year’s Day drive-by.
But Denver police officials have only said Clark is a “person of interest” in the Williams case and have never publicly named him as a suspect in the homicide.
The court papers are the first public indication that he is a suspect in the case.
Williams, 24, had left a downtown nightclub when an argument broke out between two groups of men, said witnesses and Williams’ family members.
A short time later, the cornerback was shot in the neck as he rode in a stretch Hummer limo at West 11th Avenue and Speer Boulevard, police said.
In the motion, Tafoya-Modi wrote that she was informed by the assistant U.S. attorney that Clark is going to be brought into an older indictment involving members of a Denver street gang – a drug-trafficking case that involves more than 30 wiretap affidavits and 72 defendants. Clark, 24, is facing federal drug-trafficking charges.
She also wrote that Clark is one of three suspects in Williams’ unsolved murder.
“Due to Mr. Clark being a suspect in this murder, this case has garnered high and damaging publicity,” she wrote. “Mr. Clark’s pending federal case will likely be affected by his treatment as a suspect in the unsolved murder of Mr. Williams.”
The judge ruled against Tafoya-Modi’s motion, saying the attorney was speculating about the difficulty she will have representing Clark.
“I do not agree as an abstract matter that the fact that the defendant may be a suspect in the state murder case necessarily indicates that he will be treated differently in matters charged in this court,” Boland wrote.
Clark is due in Boland’s courtroom today for a preliminary hearing.
Staff writer Felisa Cardona can be reached at 303-954-1219 or fcardona@denverpost.com.
