On the day Lee Keltner died, he attended a right-wing rally in downtown Denver with a person who bore a tattoo related to a far-right group and one other who wore the patch of an outlaw motorbike gang.
Through the rally, Keltner’s son referred to a Black man with a racial slur and threatened to “lower (him) up,” in accordance with court docket filings. He was carrying a number of knives. And Keltner, 49, was carrying a hid gun.
However whether or not a jury ought to hear that data — and different particulars concerning the day — is a nuanced authorized query that’s now being debated within the high-profile homicide case.
Unlicensed safety guard Matthew Dolloff, 31, was charged with second-degree homicide after he shot and killed Keltner as Keltner left the rally on Oct. 10. Dolloff is claiming self-defense.
The Denver District Lawyer’s Workplace argued in court docket filings that some details about Keltner’s political opinions, and concerning the character of the folks he attended the rally with, shouldn’t be allowed as proof within the case as a result of it’s not related and is more likely to improperly sway jurors.
Dolloff’s attorneys took the other stance, arguing that Keltner’s affiliations, the broader context of the rally and attendees’ actions that day are related as a result of they impacted Dolloff’s mind-set as he fired the deadly shot.
Debates about what proof could be offered to juries occur in most homicide trials, with judges making choices to restrict or permit proof which can be geared toward eliminating extraneous or extremely inflammatory data so jurors can deal with the core of the case, authorized specialists stated.
“The concept is that if you handle the knowledge that involves the jury, you’re placing them in a greater place to return to the reality than if it have been only a free-for-all,” stated Aya Gruber, a regulation professor on the College of Colorado Boulder.
Nonetheless, Dolloff’s case stands out each due to the ingrained political points and since he’s claiming self-defense — a transfer that in some ways flips the script of a standard case, the specialists stated.
“In the long run, that is a couple of man being shot to dying and whether or not legally — not politically — it was justifiable self-defense,” stated Doug Cohen, an legal professional and former prosecutor who will not be concerned within the case. “However jurors convey their political views into the jury room, and each side appear to be properly conscious of that.”
Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Publish
Firstly of their deadly encounter, Matthew Dolloff, middle, working as a safety guard for 9News, engages with Lee Keltner, left, in entrance of a 9News producer, proper, in Denver on Oct. 10, 2020. The deadly capturing occurred after competing right- and left-wing rallies in downtown Denver.
Dueling rallies
If the case goes to trial, jurors can be requested to resolve whether or not Dolloff dedicated second-degree homicide when he shot and killed Keltner.
The capturing occurred on a day when two ideologically opposed teams gathered for what was marketed as “dueling” political rallies in Denver’s Civic Heart. On one facet have been the conservative “Patriot Rally” attendees. They have been met by left-leaning protesters who’d gathered for what was billed as a “BLM-Antifa Soup Drive.”
All through the day the 2 teams have been stored properly other than one another — a pair hundred ft — with police forming a buffer between them. The perimeters shouted at one another often and chanted.
It was when the rallies wound down and members started to go away the core police-controlled space that the Keltner encountered Dolloff.
In a confrontation captured on video and by a Denver Publish photographer, Keltner and a handful of others have been arguing with a counter-protester close to the Denver Artwork Museum when Keltner all of the sudden shifted his focus to a 9News producer who was filming the argument with a cellphone. Keltner advised the producer to place the digicam away and stated he was going to “(expletive) him up.”
Dolloff, who was working as a safety guard for Denver tv station 9News, stepped between the 2 and bodily blocked Keltner, who was holding a can of bear spray. Keltner slapped Dolloff within the face. Dolloff pulled a gun from his belt and shot Keltner as Keltner discharged the bear spray.
Below Colorado regulation, an individual can use lethal pressure in self-defense provided that that particular person moderately thinks utilizing much less pressure received’t be enough, and the particular person moderately believes he or another person faces a right away menace of being killed or severely harm.
There isn’t a responsibility to retreat beneath state regulation, however the motion taken in self-defense should be usually proportionate to the assault, attorneys stated.
Jurors in self-defense circumstances should think about what the particular person claiming self-defense knew or believed when he used the lethal pressure to be able to resolve whether or not the particular person acted moderately, stated George Brauchler, former district legal professional for the 18th Judicial District.
“It’s solely related if he knew about it,” Brauchler stated of the disputed proof in Dolloff’s case.
Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Publish
The stays of a flag burn in entrance of regulation enforcement officers throughout a rally on Oct. 10, 2020, in Denver. Two rallies, one right-wing and one left-wing, passed off on the similar time in Civic Heart park.
Political leanings
Prosecutors have requested District Court docket Decide Brian Whitney to exclude particulars about Keltner’s political opinions and the character of these he attended the rally with, partially as a result of they don’t consider Dolloff knew a lot of that data when he pulled the set off.
In court docket filings, Dolloff’s protection attorneys have alleged Keltner was an everyday in “right-wing extremist circles,” utilizing the code identify “Twisted” and posting on-line beneath the username “Twist Ted” about eager to “put the boots to some antifa scum.” The protection additionally alleges Keltner was aggressive at earlier rallies and that he attended the occasion in Denver aspiring to “begin bother.”
On the rally with Keltner that day was a person sporting a “Sons of Silence” motorbike gang patch, the protection says, in addition to a person with a tattoo on the again of his head of the 12 months 1776 encircled by stars, which the protection says is related to the Three Percenters, an anti-government militia group.
Prosecutors stated Dolloff didn’t know that data when he pulled the set off, and that permitting that data to go earlier than a jury can be unfair.
“Whereas the inquiry of whether or not Mr. Keltner has a status for violence could also be related, its probative worth is considerably outweighed by the hazard that it could confuse the problems and mislead the jury to contemplate Mr. Keltner’s character when he isn’t the particular person on trial,” Assistant District Lawyer Zach McCabe wrote in a July 2 movement. ”…This trial will not be about whether or not Mr. Keltner was the preliminary aggressor or whether or not he has a status for violence.”
Moreover, there’s no proof, McCabe wrote, that Dolloff overheard Keltner’s son use the racial slur and make the menace, though Dolloff was standing close by. And it’s not clear that Dolloff was conscious of Keltner’s hid firearm, McCabe stated.
A spokeswoman for the DA’s workplace declined to remark whereas the case is pending.
The prosecutor’s movement to exclude the proof additionally raises the query of Dolloff’s political views, saying that if such particulars about Keltner are allowed into proof, it opens the door to discover Dolloff’s leanings, which they are saying are liberal.
“A easy Google seek for Mr. Dolloff yields outcomes reporting participation in protests that may be construed as opposite to Mr. Keltner’s affiliations,” a footnote within the movement reads, linking to media protection of the case.
Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Publish
Matthew Dolloff raises his fingers above his head as he’s taken into custody after fatally capturing Lee Keltner in downtown Denver on Oct. 10. Dolloff was working as a safety guard for Denver’s 9News, however station officers stated they didn’t know he was carrying a gun.
Flipping the script
The prosecution’s request to exclude and restrict proof flips the script of a typical case, authorized specialists stated. It’s extra widespread to see prosecutors pushing for data to be allowed, whereas the protection fights to maintain it out, Cohen stated.
“Right here they’re arguing the other,” he stated “It’s like conservatives arguing for tax will increase and liberals arguing for tax cuts.”
Nonetheless, the jury in Dolloff’s case should think about whether or not Dolloff’s actions have been affordable, and a part of doing that entails placing themselves into his footwear, Dolloff’s legal professional, Doug Richards, stated.
“Think about you’re strolling by way of a gang neighborhood and also you’re approached by people who find themselves clearly exhibiting they’re affiliated with the gang, both by way of phrases or clothes or conduct — you’re going to take that data and use it if you make a dedication of what’s affordable beneath the circumstances,” he stated.
He added that as a result of Dolloff was working as a safety guard, he was paying shut consideration to the whole lot of the environment and members that day.
Dolloff is scheduled to be in court docket Friday afternoon for a motions listening to. The decide may hear arguments from each side, then make the decision on what proof can be allowed within the case. He’ll seemingly draw a line someplace between the 2 sides’ positions, stated Stan Garnett, former Boulder County district legal professional.
“He’ll attempt to let there be sufficient context for the jury to know what it was wish to be the defendant within the state of affairs,” he stated, “however he’s not going to need the trial to change into a referendum on the Black Lives Matter motion or any better points.”