Snowboarders cited for triggering avalanche at Eisenhower tunnel

[Kinnikinnick]

Hah!!

Nice way to weasel out of having to try the case.

I predict that its not coming back.


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[brutah]

Case settled

https://coloradosun.com/2021/05/18/c...nnibal-dewitt/

[altasnob]

That was definitely worth the thousands of dollars CO taxpayers spent on this case.

[cravenmorhead]

Seems like a fine result but the skiers' attempts to portray themselves as on the side of Good and Justice rubs me the wrong way.

[I've seen black diamonds!]

Seems like a fine result but the skiers' attempts to portray themselves as on the side of Good and Justice rubs me the wrong way.

yup

[summit]

Did they plead guilty to a lesser charge and if so, what?

I think they should have had to do more than just 20 hours of service, but this is better than them being found guilty and having to pay 168K, or being found innocent.

"Tyler and I could have easily hiked back up the ridgeline and skied down the safe gully and no one would have known we were up there"

This guy just can't keep his mouth shut... what an idiot. They buried the road! CDOT, the helicopter, and ground emergency response would have had an easy time seeing them booting back up the ridge. And if they "ran" I don't think they'd have made the deal they just made...

[simple]

Glad this is over. The whole thing was embarrassing.

[Bunion 2020]

x2

[Danno]

It's weird that the article doesn't state what charge they pled guilty to, but obviously there was one if there is community service and probation.

It's fucking ridiculous that so much time and effort was expended to get to this result.

[altasnob]

This article says "the two men had agreed to plead guilty to reckless endangerment, a class 3 misdemeanor, and that prosecutors would not seek the restitution damages."

So sounds like they plead to the original charge, with no reduction, and no diversion agreement, but in exchange they didn't have to pay the restitution. I think I would take that if I was the defendant. Would you want to risk $150k+ of restitution if convicted? They can probably vacate/expunge the record of this offense after a period of time.

https://www.thedenverchannel.com/new...plea-agreement

[Danno]

Why that was not offered earlier is a mystery, explained only by the incompetence or desire for publicity of the DA.

[ASmileyFace]

That was not the result I was expecting after all the bullshiting back and forth. The legal system sometimes... ugh.

[~mikey b]

https://snowbrains.com/settlement-pe...in-march-2020/

[fastfred]

too many people were going to look real stupid
shit probably came down from the top to end it
bruce brown is running for what these days? another da turned poltician tough on crime? the new chick obsviously didn't get the memo until a few weeks ago
the legal system is very fucked they usually go for pleas all day long no da wants to goto trial and they throw as many charges as they can make up against you to see what actually sticks to the wall at the end of the day

[Meadow Skipper]

https://snowbrains.com/settlement-pe...in-march-2020/

I continue to be impressed by your writing.

[Kinnikinnick]

What a waste of resources.

They should have latched onto these guys with the threat of prosecution to bring them into a public relations effort to educate BC users about taking extreme care about avoiding avy terrain that threatens infrastructure and travelers on the road.

Instead they got 20 hours of community service picking up trash or shelving books at the library.

DA stupid
CDOT stupid
These two guys stupid


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[cravenmorhead]

They can probably vacate/expunge the record of this offense after a period of time.

Not in Colorado, if my memory serves. I'm too lazy to do the research at the moment, but I think you can only seal charges, not convictions.

[fastfred]

yes the judge can seal up convictions and charges from your record after a few years if you can bullshit and prove that your a good person now

[altasnob]

Looks like they can file a motion to seal the conviction after 2 years:

https://casetext.com/statute/colorad...iction-records

[cravenmorhead]

Ah, I think I was remembering the expungement statute, rather than the sealing statute. The sealing statute is broader than I expected.

[MiddleOfNight]

DA stupid
CDOT stupid
These two guys stupid

this.

And, could CDOT sue these guys in a civil court for damages (as opposed to 'restitution' ordered as result of criminal court)? Seems like you hear about monetary civil suits like that sometimes.

[MakersTeleMark]

This article says "the two men had agreed to plead guilty to reckless endangerment, a class 3 misdemeanor, and that prosecutors would not seek the restitution damages."

So sounds like they plead to the original charge, with no reduction, and no diversion agreement, but in exchange they didn't have to pay the restitution. I think I would take that if I was the defendant. Would you want to risk $150k+ of restitution if convicted? They can probably vacate/expunge the record of this offense after a period of time.

https://www.thedenverchannel.com/new...plea-agreement

Not in Colorado, if my memory serves. I'm too lazy to do the research at the moment, but I think you can only seal charges, not convictions.

yes the judge can seal up convictions and charges from your record after a few years if you can bullshit and prove that your a good person now

Looks like they can file a motion to seal the conviction after 2 years:

https://casetext.com/statute/colorad...iction-records

Ah, I think I was remembering the expungement statute, rather than the sealing statute. The sealing statute is broader than I expected.

If they plead guilty to a deferred sentence then they can seal the arrest and conviction after dismissal. If they plead straight up, then no.

The articles posted don't say, so no point in speculating, but I would guess deferred, because I would never advise a client who is a nurse to plead straight up to reckless endangerment. Kinda destroys their job prospects for life.

[Hacksaw]

https://www.summitdaily.com/news/cri...2mGlxaGRmsbwAw

[altasnob]

Article still doesn't specify if they plead to some kind of deferred sentence, just:

"Casias sentenced the men to 20 hours of useful community service each. They’ll also have to pay about $1,150 in court fines, though they otherwise won’t have to pay any restitution for the incident."

“It’s very disappointing to take a guilty plea because at no point did we feel guilty,” DeWitt said in an interview with the Summit Daily after the sentencing. “At no point did we act recklessly out there, but this was just an opportunity that we couldn’t pass up … and this isn’t going to change the way I recreate at all. But it would have been ridiculous to pass up 20 hours of community service and gamble with a financial loss for the rest of our lives. So it’s sad to bend over and get strong-armed by the DA, but that’s what we had to do.”

So sounds like they did some kind of Alford Plea, because they are still maintaining their innocence? For practical purposes, an Alford Plea is exactly the same thing as a regular plea, it just lets the Defendant to still claim they are innocent. Most prosecutors refuse to allow Alford Plea's on plea agreements where I practice just because they want the Defendant to own up to what they did.

“You can report stuff anonymously and still get the information out there,” Hannibal said. “There are ways of going about things and keeping the community safe that don’t involve waiving your Fourth and Fifth Amendment (rights).”

Better be careful on how you"anonymously" report your avy info. Police can subpoena phone records and url addresses to find out who submitted it and Summit County cops have shown they have zero problems wasting tax dollars going to such ridiculous extremes. Better "anonymously" submit your report by mail or go to a public library, create an email there, and use the fake email to report it. What a world we live in.

[summit]

Better be careful on how you"anonymously" report your avy info. Police can subpoena phone records and url addresses to find out who submitted it and Summit County cops have shown they have zero problems wasting tax dollars going to such ridiculous extremes. Better "anonymously" submit your report by mail or go to a public library, create an email there, and use the fake email to report it. What a world we live in.

Any attorney would tell you to use caution in how you report an incident in which you have have injured or killed someone or destroyed property. Maybe not handing over a video of you acting like a complete fucking idiot who knew you were behaving recklessly and ignoring danger to become public record fall under that advice?

However, if you don't do those things probably keep on submitting your obs normally.

I'm glad they don't have a felony on their record, but I wish part of the plea deal is that they'd have to STFU with their faux-victim we-dindu-nuttin bullshit and other self-righteous spew. What fucking arrogant and irresponsible toolbags! At least it is reassuring to know that those who have worked with Hannibal (at more than one location) tend to hold similarly negative views of him as his current and former coworkers have vented to me or asked me my opinions.