DENVER — As Boulder’s district attorney files more charges against the suspect in the Boulder terror attack on Pearl Street following the death of Karen Diamond, a legal expert is providing insight into the case and possible legal options moving forward.
In a news release, District Attorney Michael Dougherty stated his office filed two first-degree murder charges against the suspect.
Ian Farrell, University of Denver Sturm College of Law professor, said despite there being just one death in this case, two first-degree murder charges were filed because the district attorney is weighing two theories.
“So, there are different ways in which someone can be guilty of first-degree murder when a person dies, including, for example, it's first-degree murder if you intentionally and deliberately kill somebody. And another way that it can be first-degree murder in Colorado, unlike a lot of other states, is if you are reckless and recklessly indifferent with respect to human life. And so those are sort of the two theories that the prosecution is moving forward,” Farrell said.
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Farrell said the state’s case could also impact the federal case.
“The two cases are independent of each other, and there's no strict rule as to which one goes first. Often the federal case moves forward first, if it's a situation where it's sort of a crime of nationwide importance and so forth. Here, they're both moving forward. So there have been appearances in both state court and federal court to make pleas and so forth,” Farrell said. “The defendant is currently in state detention, but that could change, and one of the ways that I've been thinking about this morning because of the additional charges, is that there's potential at the federal level now for a capital charge to be made.”
Farrell said if federal prosecutors pursue capital murder charges, the death penalty could be on the table.
“There is a potential under the federal hate crimes for the death penalty to be imposed if someone dies as a result of the hate crime. I don't think that's ever been charged, even though, you know, with hate crimes, someone has died in the past," Farrell said. "The difference now is that there's a potential first-degree murder charge at the federal level and an aggravating factor of using explosives, which potentially could bring the death penalty into play.”
Farrell said if federal prosecutors take the rare action of pursuing the death penalty, this could impact which case, state or federal, is prosecuted first.