The trial for one of three men accused of sexually assaulting a 17-year-old girl in Ouray County in 2023 has been postponed for a second time.
Seventh Judicial Chief District Judge Cory Jackson agreed with attorneys for Nate Dieffenderfer, ruling during a Nov. 6 hearing that the trial should be delayed to accommodate the schedule of a DNA expert retained by the defense.
The trial, which was slated to start Jan. 6, is now scheduled to begin April 27.
“I will find that DNA evidence in this case appears to be quite important,” Jackson said.
Dieffenderfer, Gabriel Trujillo and Ashton Whittington have all been charged with felony sexual assault in connection with the alleged May 2023 assault, which the now 19-year-old woman said occurred in the home of then-Ouray Police Chief Jeff Wood. Wood is Dieffenderfer’s stepfather.
Dieffenderfer’s trial was originally scheduled to begin this past June, but it was delayed until January to give defense attorneys more time to locate a DNA expert.
Defense attorneys found and retained that expert, Phil Danielson, a professor at the University of Denver. But Cindy Hyatt, one of Dieffenderfer’s attorneys, filed a motion last month asking to postpone the trial because Danielson is unavailable in January.
During last week’s hearing, Hyatt said Dieffenderfer’s right to a fair trial and effective counsel would be violated if he was forced to go to trial in January.
Without a continuance, Hyatt said, “There could likely be a cascade of likely events which would prevent this trial even further, which nobody wants that to happen, your honor.”
She didn’t further specify what possible events she was talking about.
Deputy District Attorney Stacey Haase objected to another trial delay, noting that the defense didn’t disclose Danielson as an expert witness until six months after the deadline set by the judge.
“That is not diligence, your honor. That is delay,” Haase said during last week’s hearing.
She said another continuance would prejudice prosecutors and delay justice for the woman, who Haase argued has a statutory right to a prompt resolution to the case.
The woman’s attorney, Roger Sagal, also opposed a postponement, citing the same reasons as prosecutors. Sagal filed a civil case against the former police chief six months ago. It’s unclear what that civil complaint alleges, as the only detail available to the public is that it was filed on May 12.
The entire case file of the civil case Sagal filed against Wood is suppressed, meaning it is unavailable to the public and even the hearing schedule is secret. The Plaindealer has retained an attorney with help from the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and has asked for the case documents to be made public.
Regarding the request for the delay in the criminal case, Jackson said he respects the interests of both the woman and the community at-large in resolving the case, which will be slated for trial nearly three years after the alleged crime.
“When these cases are delayed, they hang over the community, they hang over the victim,” the judge said. “I think that’s something the court needs to respect.”
At the same time, he said, Diefenderffer is entitled to a fair trial and effective counsel. In this case, Jackson said, the interests of the latter outweigh those of the former.
Trujillo and Whittington are both scheduled to go to trial starting Feb. 9. Attorneys for both men sought to have sanctions imposed against prosecutors and the cases dismissed based on claims that grand jury proceedings this spring were mishandled. Jackson rejected those claims.
