Prosecutors seek delay, overturn of exclusion of evidence from hearing

Prosecutors have appealed a judge’s decision to exclude evidence from a hearing in a Ouray felony sexual assault case, claiming the judge abused his discretion.

The 7th Judicial District Attorney’s Office on March 15 appealed County Court Judge Sean Murphy’s ruling to a district court judge and have asked for a delay in any further proceedings in the case against 18-year-old Ashton Whittington, one of three men accused of sexually assaulting a 17-year-old girl last year at the home of Ouray Police Chief Jeff Wood.

Defense attorneys had not responded to the appeal filed by Deputy District Attorney Ryan Hess as of Wednesday, and it’s unknown when a district court judge will rule on the appeal. But the appeal likely will postpone an all-day preliminary hearing for Whittington that was scheduled to take place Friday and delay proceedings.

The DA’s office filed the appeal two days after Murphy barred prosecutors from introducing several pieces of evidence at the preliminary hearing because they failed to turn over the evidence to Whittington’s attorneys within the time frame mandated by state law. That evidence included video of a search warrant being executed at the police chief’s house and information extracted from the cellphones of the girl and three defendants.

Defense attorneys complained it took prosecutors until this month to submit evidence from the alleged sexual assault, which was reported in May 2023. Some evidence had still not been turned over to the defense by the initial March 13 preliminary hearing.

In his appeal and motion to halt legal proceedings, Hess didn’t explain why prosecutors believe Murphy abused his discretion. But he made it clear the suppressed evidence is key to the case.

“The issues raised on appeal have a substantial effect on the prosecution’s case,” Hess wrote in his motion to stop proceedings pending the outcome of the appeal. “Absent a stay of the proceed- ings, there can be no effective remedy, as evidence which is necessary to prove one probable cause of the charges against the Defendant has been suppressed from the preliminary hearing.”

Prosecutors have charged Whittington with felony counts of sexual assault and contributing to the delinquency of a minor and a misdemeanor count of providing alcohol to a minor. His attorneys argued during the March 13 preliminary hearing Whittington was not involved in the alleged assault and that his DNA wasn’t found in any of the tests performed.

The two other defendants in the case, 18-year-old Nate Dieffenderffer and 20-year-old Gabriel Trujillo, are due back in court in April and May, respectively. Dieffenderffer, the stepson of the Ouray police chief, was 17 at the time of the alleged assault and is being charged as an adult.