CASTLE ROCK, Colo. (AP) - Prosecutors are asking to delay the death penalty trial of an inmate charged with killing a prison guard because of questions raised about his original conviction.
In a court filing Wednesday, District Attorney George Brauchler said his office needs more time to respond to questions about whether Edward Montour actually killed his 11-week-old daughter. On Tuesday, a coroner changed Taylor Montour’s manner of death from homicide to unknown. Montour was serving a life sentence for her 1997 death when prosecutors say he killed corrections officer Eric Autobee in 2002. He pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.
Autobee’s attorneys say the death penalty should be dropped because the reclassification of the girl’s death casts doubt on his original conviction. Montour said he accidentally dropped the girl when she died, and his attorneys have said she had an undiagnosed bone disease.
Defense attorneys said last month that they have 17 new expects who can testify about the girl’s death. Brauchler said another doctor’s initial assessment of her death is at odds with their findings, and prosecutors need a matter of months to re-analyze medical information from that case. In the court filings, he described the timing of defense attorneys’ announcement as an “ambush” and asked a judge to bar the defense witnesses or grant a delay.
“A delay of mere weeks is insufficient and frustrates the search for the truth,” Brauchler said.
The request came as jury selection continues in the trial.
Separately, the judge on Wednesday denied a request from Autobee’s father to tell jurors he doesn’t think Montour should be executed.
Bob Autobee wanted to testify at the penalty phase of Montour’s trial if he is convicted. The Denver Post reports (https://tinyurl.com/nvsppog) that the judge ruled the father could testify about Montour’s character but Colorado doesn’t have a law that allows him to argue against execution.
Bob Autobee has vocally objected to Brauchler’s decision to seek the death penalty. Autobee has protested outside the courthouse where prospective jurors waited.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.