Colorado
Colorado lawmakers again trying to repeal ban on large-capacity magazines for guns
DENVER – Two bills introduced in the Colorado Legislature aim to again allow high-capacity magazines in the state and to eliminate a state ban on so-called “gravity knives” and switchblades.
Senate Bill 7, which is sponsored by Sen. Vicki Marble, Rep. Stephen Humphrey and Rep. Lori Saine – all Republicans – would eliminate a section of state statute that bars “large-capacity magazines.”
Statute written in 2013 banned any weapon magazine that could hold more than 15 rounds of ammunition, and in the case of shotguns, any magazine that could hold more than 28 inches of shells. It also banned any magazine that could hold more than eight shotgun shells when combined with a fixed magazine.
The statute also banned the possession, sale or transfer of any large-capacity magazines after July 1, 2013, and required any person in possession of or manufacturer who was making such magazines at the time to have a stamp or marking noting it was made after that date.
The bill, which was assigned to the Senate State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee, would repeal that entire section of state statute.
The bill also contains a so-called “safety clause” that declares that the Legislature finds the bill “necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health and safety.”
The Senate voted to repeal the magazine limit last year, but that bill died before reaching the governor’s desk.
The issue has gone to court several times since Gov. Hickenlooper first signed the high-capacity magazine ban in 2013 but has never been overturned.
OTHER BILL WOULD ALLOW ‘GRAVITY KNIVES’ AND SWITCHBLADES
Senate Bill 8, sponsored by Sen. Owen Hill, R-El Paso, and Rep. Steve Lebsock, D-Adams, would repeal portions of state statute that ban gravity knives and switchblades.
Gravity knives are currently defined as “any knife that has a blade released from the handle or sheath thereof by the force of gravity or the application of centrifugal force.” Switchblades are defined as “any knife, the blade of which opens automatically by hand pressure applied to a button, springs, or other device in its handle.”
The proposed bill would remove those two types of weapons from a section detailing the possession of “a dangerous or illegal weapon,” but would leave in place bans on metallic knuckles, blackjacks and gas guns.
Solved: Colorado Springs cold cases from 1972, 2010 closed
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Cold case detectives in the Colorado Springs Police Department’s homicide unit say they have solved two cold case murders, but both of the people accused are dead.
The first cold case stems from the September 1972 stabbing death of Deborah Lynn May, 19. Colorado Springs police say they were able to preserve DNA evidence from an alleged suspect in the case and use new testing methods to try and get a hit.
When the tests were performed, the DNA matched to a man named Craig Brame, who police say was an acquaintance of May’s boyfriend’s.
Brame and the boyfriend were both serving in the U.S. Army at the time and were stationed at Fort Carson.
The department found Brame had died in April 2004, but said the new evidence convinced investigators and the El Paso County district attorney that Brame was responsible for May’s murder.
The second cold case police said they solved was the March 2010 murder of 56-year-old Yong Glen, who was shot to death at her tailor’s shop on Maizeland Road.
After she was shot dead, the suspect in the case stole her vehicle, police say.
Last March, someone tried to register the vehicle in California, and investigators tied the car to a man named Robert Quillen. But they also found that Quillen had committed suicide just before they tied him to the vehicle.
However, investigators were able to analyze the gun Quillen used in his suicide and, paired with evidence from the vehicle, were able to convince the district attorney that Quillen was Glen’s murderer.
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Jefferson County Coroner’s Office identifies 2 people found dead in crashed car in Bear Creek
EVERGREEN, Colo. – The two people found dead in a crashed car in Bear Creek in Evergreen have been identified as a 26-year-old man from Conifer and a 20-year-old Evergreen woman.
The Jefferson County Coroner’s Office identified the two as Corry Danks, 26, of Conifer and Kira Blaugher-Wyszomirski, 20, of Evergreen.
Friends of both victims remembered them at Drass Deli on Thursday, a local spot they visited frequently in Evergreen.
“It’s been difficult for everyone; it has really affected the community deeply,” said Lee Kirbert, who grew up with Corry, who friends call CJ, and also knew Kira.
Danks was driving the car when it crashed, and Blaugher-Wyszomirski was riding in the passenger’s seat.
“[CJ] was a confident person, he lived with poise,” Kirbert said. “Kira was just a very exciting person, she lived as a free spirit.”
It’s still unclear when the crash happened, but bystanders noticed the car, a 2015 Volkswagen, upside down in the creek along Highway 74 just after 8 a.m. Wednesday.
“It was tough because we didn’t know what was going on for a long time,” said Kirbert.
Colorado State Patrol officials told Denver7 they believe the car had been in the creek for “several hours” before it was discovered.
Tami Danks, CJ’s mother, said she thought the two were on their way to visit a friend in Kittredge Tuesday night before the crash happened.
Danks went to Conifer High School where he played basketball. His mother said he just recently moved back from Florida and had started doing home renovation work.
Friends said Blaugher-Wyszomirski went to Evergreen High School and had been working at a local restaurant.
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CDOT auditor fired at end of December over possible credit card misuse
DENVER – The Colorado Department of Transportation’s director of audits was fired at the end of December amid an ongoing investigation into his use of a state-owned credit card.
CDOT Communications Director Amy Ford confirmed Chris Wedor was fired Dec. 29. He was hired in April 2016, Ford said.
“We were going through reviews and discovered irregularities,” Ford told Denver7. “When we discovered them, we immediately forwarded the investigation to the Colorado Bureau of Investigations and terminated Chris Wedor.”
Ford said she could not provide further details since the case is still active with CBI.
The Associated Press reports that Wedor’s job paid $112,000 each year.
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Denver man formally charged with arson for allegedly using Molotov cocktail to burn own home
DENVER – A Denver man has been formally charged with arson and use of an incendiary device or explosive for allegedly using a Molotov cocktail to light his home on fire on Jan. 8.
Martin Schenck, 59, faces two counts of use of an explosive or incendiary device, one count of first-degree arson, one count of second-degree arson, four counts of explosive or incendiary device possession, and eight counts of possession of a weapon by a previous offender.
Schenck allegedly intentionally started the fire at his home at 672 S. Irving St. by using a Molotov cocktail.
Police say they allegedly found four weapons and six more Molotov cocktails at Schenck’s home. They had been called out to the home after a shot spotter picked up noises in the area.
Schenck remains in custody at the Denver Detention Center on a $50,000 bond and is next due in court Friday for his second advisement.
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Denver law group suing DEA over its blanket classification of cannabinoids
DENVER – A Denver-based law firm specializing in cannabis law is suing the Drug Enforcement Agency over its December announcement that it would be applying a Schedule-I classification to extracts with any cannabinoids derived from the cannabis plant.
The Hoban Law Group filed the lawsuit Jan. 13 in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, based in California, on behalf of three of its clients: the Hemp Industries Association, RMH Holdings, LLC and Centuria Natural Foods, Inc. Continue reading
Former child prostitute identified by DPD sergeant in Netflix-hosted film sues production company
DENVER – A victim of child sex trafficking who was named by a Denver Police Department sergeant and whose face was shown in a 2013 film that was hosted on Netflix is suing the company that produced the film for publicly identifying her.
Attorneys for the girl, identified in the suit as “Jane Roe,” originally filed the lawsuit in Denver District Court on Dec. 11. At the time, the production company, Three Generations, Inc., and Netflix, Inc. were both named as defendants.
But Netflix had the case moved to federal court in Denver earlier this month, and attorneys for the girl have since dismissed the claims against Netflix, citing the 1996 Communications Decency Act that has been interpreted to mean that internet service operators are not publishers and are thus not liable for the content of third parties.
The suit centers around Three Generations’ 2013 film, “Tricked.” It claims that the DPD sergeant, Daniel Steele, was interviewed in the film and “disclosed personal details related to [Roe]’s sexual abuse, including [Roe]’s name and photographs.”
In “Tricked,” Sgt. Steele, who works in DPD’s Special Investigations Division, is noted as being an expert in prostitution and human trafficking crimes, and repeatedly talked about the girl and her history. The film also included her full name in the credits
Roe’s attorneys argue that since Roe is a victim of a sexual crime, she is protected from having her identity disclosed in Colorado under the Criminal Justice Records Act, and that her name and identity “were not available for any other public source” aside from the film.
Her attorneys argue the film has been seen “thousands” of times in Colorado, and that thus, Three Generations have violated state law.
They say Roe suffered “humiliation, anxiety, embarrassment, and social stigma” because of the film, and asks for actual damages, emotional distress damages, injunctive relief against the production company, pre- and post-judgment interest on damages and court and attorney’s fees.
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Proposal to fix K-12 funding shortfall calls for higher pot tax, less in senior property tax breaks
DENVER – Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper wants the state Legislature to cut a property tax exemption for senior homeowners and to increase the state special sales tax on marijuana for the upcoming fiscal year in order to bridge a state budget gap that hits K-12 education the hardest.
The request, made by the governor and the Office of State Planning and Budgeting and submitted Tuesday to the Joint Budget Committee, seeks to address a projected $106.2 million shortfall in the budget first submitted last November. Continue reading
Denver man runs mobile tattoo removal clinic to help ex-gang members get a fresh start
DENVER – A Denver man is working to help ex-convicts, gang members and juveniles get a fresh start by removing the permanent marks from their former lives they want to leave behind.
Jesus Bujanda and his family first thought up the idea for TattooEmergency911 on Thanksgiving two years ago, when his nephew who had recently been released from prison started talking about the process of having old ink linking him to an ex-girlfriend and a gang removed.
His nephew had been getting on his feet with his step-father’s concrete company in Steamboat Springs and wanted to be taken more seriously.
By Christmas, the idea was gaining steam among the family. Bujanda says they researched and found there were was a major hole to be filled in the market for mobile tattoo removal services.
His wife, Gayedine, and daughter came up with the name for the company and the concept to use a converted ambulance as a mobile tattoo removal clinic by the end of the day, and they got to work.
Bujanda says he and his family put the ambulance together, but said because of the new idea, that the business at first “wasn’t taken very seriously.”
But it worked for his nephew, who now is a successful businessman with the concrete company, and Bujanda knew it would eventually work for others if he and his family made their business venture come true.
The tattoo removal process takes between six months and a year to complete, according to Bujanda, so he approached the state of Colorado about working with young people in juvenile detention centers to remove their tattoos before they were released in order to give them a better chance at excelling once they were released.
“For some, it may be part of their parole. Once they are released, they must follow through with the removal process,” Bujanda said. “In the mean time they are trying to find a job with visible and gang tattoos and struggle to find employment. I am able to help them by making sure they are ink-free for a better chance of finding employment and surviving once they are on their own.”
He said that work turned into him beginning to work with more juvenile facilities and transitional housing units for adults and juveniles from Greeley to Colorado Springs.
Bujanda says he offers the services at low costs in order to accommodate his clients, many of whom are either in jail or prison or were recently released.
“This has been life-changing for many of the people that I have worked with because under normal circumstances, it is still quite an expensive process,” he said. “There are so many people that want to leave the past in the past, but they have a reminder and that is not who they are now.”
He has dozens of success stories. In one case, a Commerce City waste worker with two small gang-related face tattoos had been passed up for promotions even after working for the department for 12 years.
But Bujanda says the man got the job after TattooEmergency911 removed the man’s tattoos.
“He was the first person to tell me I changed his life and we both started to cry,” Bujanda said.
Bujanda, who is Hispanic, says he doesn’t discriminate when it comes to whom he supplies his services to.
“When I first meet them, they are embarrassed to show me [their tattoos] – especially when I’m Hispanic and they want swastikas removed,” he said. “My answer is always the same: ‘I’m not here to judge, I’m here to help.’”
Bujanda also teaches automotive technology and detailing through Jefferson County Public Schools’ CTE Career and Technical Education Center, and has been teaching for 20 years.
“I really enjoy teaching…and take pride in helping my students to discover their talents they didn’t know they had,” he said.
TattooEmergency911 has also recently opened a clinic in Northfield that also offers “a variety of aesthetic and laser services” that include skin treatments, micro-needling and laser hair removal, among others, according to Bujanda.
His wife runs the clinic during the day along with her cousin, Devanny Tapia, who is an aesthetician. Bujanda credits his entire family for the business’s success.
“Throughout this entire journey, my wife, my kids and my family have been extremely supportive and I couldn’t have done this without them,” he said. “This is truly a family affair.”
Bujanda says the next step is working with federal prisons and other federal agencies to remove tattoos from ex-gang members and victims of human trafficking.
He says he recently finished the process needed to work with the federal government and that he has also recently started working with the Small Business Development Center in California to expand beyond Colorado in hopes of eventually taking his mobile services to most of the Southwest.
For more on TattooEmergency911, click here.
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Denver woman, 18, confirmed among those killed in Mexican nightclub shooting
DENVER – A Denver woman is the one U.S. citizen killed in a nightclub shooting in Mexico early Monday morning, ABC News has confirmed.
Alejandra Villanueva, 18, died in the shooting at the club in Playa del Carmen, which killed at least four others and injured at least 12.
The shooting happened during an electronic music festival, The BPM Festival, that had brought people from across the world to the beach resort.
Organizers for the festival said a lone gunman opened fire at the Blue Parrot club, killing at least three security team members.
Villanueva’s brother, Robert Aaron Martinez, confirmed his sister had died in the shooting.
“She was very lovable. Very artistic. She loved art,” Martinez said, adding that his sister was excited about the trip.
“The night before she left she was at my house, and we were having dinner and we were talking about how she was going to come back and she was going to tell me about her trip and everything she did over there,” her brother said. “I didn’t know it was going to be the last time I would see her.”
Villanueva’s friend called her family from the resort town worried because she couldn’t find Villanueva after the shooting.
After their worst fears were confirmed, Villanueva’s family has a new worry.
“She was the one that lived with my mom and three younger brothers. She was working to sustain that house,” said Martinez.
A GoFundMe page Martinez started said Villanueva was in college and working, and that she helped provide for her ill mother and younger siblings.
“If there’s any way that anybody can help us, we’re just trying to figure out how we’re going to bring my sister back. We just want to say the last goodbye and see her for the last time,” said Martinez.
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