A Fremont County district court judge is considering a motion to dismiss a 2017 sex assault case based on statutory and speedy grounds.
Criminal defense attorney Randy Canney filed the motion asking for dismissal on behalf of his client, 30-year-old James Anthony Walker.
“The Constitutional speedy trial issue is the critical issue here,” Canney said during a hearing Tuesday.
The case was filed in February 2017. Walker pleaded not guilty in October of that year. The trial date was set for Feb. 3, 2020, but Canney said the district attorney’s office did not file a bill of particulars, which is a description of the facts that the prosecution intends to prove at trial.
“About a week before trial, they filed a bill of particulars and we sprung into action, endorsed witnesses and were ready to go to trial on that February 3 date,” Canney said. “On the Friday before that date, the people then completely flip-flopped on their bill of particulars, opened it wide open again and said ignore the earlier one.”
Canney moved to dismiss the case, but the trial was continued to July 2020. The defense later moved to continue because of COVID-19 restrictions.
“At that point, we continued it to two further trial dates,” Canney said. “We are now a year-and-a-half out from the trial that should have gone. In terms of the overall length of delay, it is extraordinarily significant and we are many, many years out from the initial case. The underlying real reason for the delay is the people’s flip-flop.”
He said the case is “ancient” and what happened with the bill of particulars is inexcusable.
Former Deputy District Attorney Shad Brown previously was ordered by the court to file a response to the motion to dismiss but failed to do so.
“Mr. Brown was representing the people at the last hearing involving Mr. Walker, since then Mr. Bown has abruptly left the office,” Deputy District Attorney Steve Sullivan said.
He said the district attorney’s office has taken steps to piecemeal to provide coverage for Brown’s cases until the office gets back to full staffing.
District Court Judge Ramsey Lama will issue an oral ruling on the motion at 8:15 a.m. June 29 at which time arraignment also is slated for a 2020 case.
In the 2017 case, the victim told investigators that she “was scared because James was 25 years old but then (she) got comfortable with him and began sneaking out of the house to meet with him,” the affidavit states.
They spent time at his house in Florence and also at Florence Mountain Park.
In a text message from Walker to the victim Aug. 19, 2016, Walker asked if she was “ready to be a mom,” to which she replied, “No, I can’t wait lol.”
Walked replied, “Lol ok babe how bad … Like as soon as you turn 18?”
The victim said she knew Walker was a military police officer with a wife and two kids, but at first, he told her the children belonged to his roommate. She later found out through her sister’s friends that he did have a family.
Detectives interviewed Walker at the Fort Carson Army Base on Dec. 6, 2016. He initially denied knowing the victim but later admitted that she was a friend and he thought she was 18. He said they mostly just drove around and talked, but later said they may have had sex once, but he didn’t remember because he was drunk at the time.
A complaint was filed July 14, 2020, listing charges against Walker stemming from an incident on or about July 4, 2019, involving a 9-year-old victim, including sexual assault on a child, a Class 4 felony and sexual assault on a child by one in a position of trust, a Class 3 felony.
The alleged victim is the child of a family friend who had been placed in the care of Walker and his wife overnight.
At the time of the alleged incident, a protective order barring Walker from any contact with anyone under the age of 18, with the exception of Walker’s own child, had already been issued by the court because of similar charges stemming from the previous case.
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