2 weeks Ago
The state-level case against Robert Lewis Dear Jr. — the man who allegedly shot and killed three people at a Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood in 2015 — continues to be delayed as attorneys seek to have Dear's appeal heard in the U.S.
Supreme Court. Attorneys on Thursday appeared in court for a brief status conference hearing, where they informed the court that they are awaiting the outcome of Dear's appeal on being forcibly medicated to proceed with the case. Dear's state case has been in limbo for several years after he was found incompetent to stand trial.
Attorneys on Thursday said that his state case, where he faces 179 charges, will be on hold until there is a resolution with ongoing competency issues. U.S.
District Judge Robert Blackburn determined in September 2022 that Dear could be forcibly medicated in an attempt to have him stand trial. Dear's attorneys at the federal level attempted to appeal the ruling, but in June the 10th U.S.
Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Blackburn's decision. In August, Dear's attorneys filed a motion for rehearing "en banc," which if granted would have allowed Dear's attorneys to argue the case a second time in front of the 10th Circuit, but that motion was denied. Dear's cases remain in limbo because, according to court records, his attorneys have filed a petition for writ of certiorari to have his appeal case heard in the U.
S. Supreme Court. To allow time for the petition to either be granted or denied, the 10th Circuit granted an order to stay the forcible medication of Dear for 90 days, with the stay continuing until the Supreme Court's final disposition if the case is heard at that level.
At Dear's status conference at the state-level Thursday, prosecutor Jennifer Viehman stated she was anticipating that there won't be movement on Dear's cases until spring or summer of next year. Attorneys in Dear's state-level case will return Feb. 13 for another status conference hearing.
Dear’s status as incompetent has long delayed his cases at the state and federal levels. A federal case against Dear in which he faces 68 felony charges was opened in 2019 and remains on hold. Ke’Arre Stewart, Jennifer Markovsky and University of Colorado Colorado Springs police Officer Garrett Swasey died in the November 2015 shooting.
Nine other people — five of them law enforcement officers — were wounded during the course of a five-hour standoff. Dear called himself “a warrior for the babies” during his first court appearance in December 2015. He yelled over attorneys at least 15 times.
“I’m guilty — there’s no trial!” Dear said minutes into that initial hearing. Dear is being held at the federal correctional facility in Englewood, according to federal prison inmate records..
