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Tag: Competency Law

Parents Outraged After Child Sex Assault Case Dismissed Under Colorado Competency Law
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DENVER7, Approved, Local

Parents Outraged After Child Sex Assault Case Dismissed Under Colorado Competency Law

By: Natalie Chuck, Joe Vaccarelli | Denver7 Denver7 Investigates continues uncovering cases involving violent crimes being dismissed after suspects are found permanently incompetent JEFFERSON COUNTY, Colo. — A 71-year-old man is walking free after he was found incompetent to stand trial and not restorable, forcing a Jefferson County judge to drop charges of sexual assault on a child that had been pending for several years. Robert Dixson was accused of sexually assaulting a child, who was his relative, over the course of three years when the child was between the ages of 7 and 10. Dixson was in his 60s at the time of the alleged crime and faced multiple felony charges. After his arrest, he was evaluated six times and hundreds of attempts were made to improve hi...
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Colorado Parental Rights Group Pushes to Repeal Controversial Competency Law
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Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Colorado Parental Rights Group Pushes to Repeal Controversial Competency Law

By Marissa Ventrulli | Colorado Politics A group of parental rights advocates and Republican lawmakers is urging the Colorado legislature to repeal a 2024 law that made changes to the state’s competency procedures. Established over the summer, the group called “We The Parents” includes members of the Colorado Parental Advocacy Network and legislators from the more conservative wing of the Republican Party: Reps. Brandi Bradley of Littleton, Stephanie Luck of Penrose, and Ken DeGraaf of Colorado Springs. On its website, the organization describes itself as a group of parents and community leaders “who are done watching politicians ignore the voices of families.” “We’ve watched lawmakers strip away parental rights behind closed doors,” the group’s website says. “That ends now. We...
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Lawmakers Face Public Backlash After Violent Suspect Freed Under New Incompetency Law
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Colorado Politics, Approved, Local

Lawmakers Face Public Backlash After Violent Suspect Freed Under New Incompetency Law

By Marissa Ventrelli | Colorado Politics A high-profile case out of Weld County involving an attempted murder has renewed debate about the state’s competency laws and public safety. The case arose from an incident last spring, in which a group of men led by 21-year-old Debisa Ephraim allegedly attacked a man and his friends in downtown Greeley. After Ephraim was found incompetent to stand trial, his charges, which included attempted murder, were dropped, and he was released from the Weld County Jail earlier this month. The office of Weld County Sheriff Steve Reams posted a video of the Greeley attack on X, saying Ephraim had been released under a 2024 law that, he said, required individuals declared incompetent and unlikely to be restored to be released from jail. “The state le...
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State Leaders Put Criminal Rights Ahead of Public Safety
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The Gazette, Approved, Commentary, State

State Leaders Put Criminal Rights Ahead of Public Safety

By The Gazette Editorial Board | Commentary, The Gazette Only days ago, The Gazette editorial board weighed in on how easy it is for dangerous criminal suspects with lengthy records in Colorado to walk free — and never come back — as they supposedly await trial or other court proceedings. That includes when they are deemed “incompetent” to understand the charges against them — usually, due to presumed mental illness — and at times are released pending psychiatric assessment and treatment to restore their competency. Even under those circumstances, suspects can wind up going free for good, either because they fail to follow through on outpatient psychiatric care and disappear onto the streets, or, incredibly, they have been found permanently incompetent — and by state law, the char...
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