A new chief district judge has been named in El Paso County, and he will be tasked with deciding which jurist — including possibly himself — will oversee the case against .
Colorado Supreme Court Chief Justice Nancy Rice appointed District Court Judge William Bain to serve as the chief judge in the 4th Judicial District.
Bain will replace current Chief Judge Gilbert Martinez upon his Aug. 1 retirement.
“Chief Judge Martinez has dedicated the entirety of his nearly 40-year career to the law through public service and is to be commended for his vast contributions to the judiciary,” Rice said in a written statement. “I wish him well in his retirement. He will be missed by many.”
Judge Bain is a fifth generation Colorado native who was appointed to the district court by then-Gov. Bill Ritter in 2010. The Colorado Judicial Department says Bain has lived in Colorado Springs since 1997 and received his undergraduate degree from Middlebury College and his law degree from Cornell Law School in 1996.
The state’s judicial department said Bain will be tasked with deciding the judge in Dear’s case, which Martinez has been handling.
Dear faces 179 counts — including eight charges of first-degree murder — . He is accused of opening fire in the clinic’s parking lot before storming inside with multiple guns.
Before the five-hour standoff was over, three people were dead and nine others were transported to hospitals with gunshot wounds. University of Colorado-Colorado Springs police , , 29, and , 35, were killed in the attack.
Dear has claimed responsibility for the rampage in court outbursts and interviews with the media, calling himself a “warrior for the babies.” Last week Dear was found and will return to court in 90 days for another review.
