Man to accept plea in car theft case
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
Steamboat Springs — An 18-year-old man accused of stealing a car and leading police on a high-speed chase on Lincoln Avenue has reached a disposition in his case. On Wednesday, the man's case was bound to District Court.
Joel Lee McCormick, of Northglenn, will enter a guilty plea to a lesser charge at his next court date in February as part of a plea agreement reached with the District Attorney's Office. In exchange, he will not be sentenced to more than three years in prison.
McCormick was arrested in December on suspicion of first-degree aggravated motor vehicle theft, a Class 3 felony; vehicular eluding, a Class 5 felony; violating bail bond conditions, a Class 6 felony; and several misdemeanor offenses, including DUI, DUI per se, minor in possession and resisting arrest.
McCormick and co-defendant Stephen Michael Byrne, 22, of Westminster, are suspected of stealing a Steamboat Springs resident's car after it was left running. Officers spotted the vehicle a short time after it was reported stolen. Police say McCormick refused to pull the car over and led them on a chase down Lincoln Avenue. Officers caught the suspects after McCormick turned in to a driveway, trapping the car. McCormick leapt from the car and was caught.
McCormick's attorney, public defender Trevor McFee, told Routt County Court Judge James Garrecht that McCormick would waive his right to a preliminary hearing in the case to accept the plea offer.
McCormick is scheduled to appear in Routt County District Court at 1 p.m. Feb. 16.
A 37-year-old man accused of violating his bail bond conditions by not completing a sex offender program had his case set for an evidentiary hearing at 2 p.m. Feb. 1.
Edwin Eugene Perry was sentenced to 90 days in jail and eight years of intense probation for sexually assaulting a child younger than 14 in August.
The trial for Cosme Orlando Lopez, 22, of Steamboat Springs will begin Feb. 13.
During a hearing Wednesday, McFee, Lopez's attorney, asked Judge Michael O'Hara whether he could file late paperwork for an entrapment defense. Assistant District Attorney Kerry St. James objected to the motion.
"I anticipated (McFee) was going for an entrapment defense. I asked myself, 'Where is it?' It never showed up," St. James said.
St. James said he would not have time to deal with McFee's paperwork before Lopez's trial because of three other trials St. James is preparing for in February.
Lopez was arrested in July on suspicion of selling cocaine and methamphetamine from his house near Soda Creek Elementary School. Lopez is facing Class 3 felony distribution drug charges.
O'Hara -- who will not be the judge who tries the case -- told McFee he was not comfortable ruling on the request Wednesday and that he would rather leave the issue to District Judge Paul McLimans, who will preside over the case.
O'Hara ordered McFee to file a late motion for the entrapment defense.
The bond of 22-year-old Jeremy Dieckhoff was lowered to $15,000 after his attorney, Leslie Goldstein, told Routt County Court Judge James Garrecht that Dieckhoff has strong ties to the community and plans to return to his job if he can post bond.
Dieckhoff is being held in Routt County Jail on a $30,000 bond on suspicion of breaking into a man's home and stealing several weapons, including shotguns, a crossbow and rifles. He is facing Class 3 felony burglary charges as well as felony theft and criminal mischief charges.
Deputy District Attorney Jay Cranmer opposed Dieckhoff's bond being lowered because of the "serious charges (Dieckhoff) has against him."
Dieckhoff's case was bound to District Court, where Goldstein said Dieckhoff is prepared to accept a plea offer from the District Attorney's Office.
Dieckhoff is scheduled to appear in Routt County District Court at 1 p.m. Feb. 1.
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