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Defense plea for lowering $1M bond fails

Suspects’ families speak up as charges mount

The 6th Judicial District Attorney’s office on Monday filed 21 charges against Tyree Ogsbury-Jones and 19 against Aaron Williams in connection with the shooting of Daniel Johnson at the Iron Horse Inn earlier this month.

The charges ranged from felonies such as murder, attempted murder and burglary to counts such as “crime of violence,” which are sentence enhancers.

If found guilty, the two former Fort Lewis College football players face life behind bars, topped off by sentences of dozens more years in prison.

Johnson was shot and killed at the Iron Horse Inn on March 16 over what investigators believe was a dispute over marijuana plants between Ogsbury-Jones and Brian Keith Moore, 53, who was Johnson’s roommate.

Also shot at the Iron Horse Inn on March 16 was Moore, who was treated for three superficial wounds – to chin, hand and shoulder – at Mercy Regional Medical Center and released.

Bail for Ogsbury-Jones and Williams, both 22, was set on March 17 at $1 million apiece.

At the courthouse Monday, Ogsbury-Jones’ public defender, John Moran, argued that the court was violating the Eighth Amendment of the Bill of Rights by setting a bond as high as $1 million for his client – an amount he characterized as beyond the means of Ogsbury-Jones’ family, as well most people in Durango.

Williams’ court-appointed defense attorney Chris Trimble has likewise filed a motion to lower William’s bond that’s yet to be decided.

On Monday, Ellen Stark, Ogsbury-Jones’ grandmother, also pled for District Judge Jeffrey Wilson to lower the bond. Stark began her remarks by saying, “First, I would like to offer condolences to the family of Mr. Johnson, and our deepest regret that his life was lost.”

Stark, who lives in Boulder, said she knows her grandson well: She was present at his birth and has spent the many years since “watching this boy grow up.”

She added: “The crimes Tyree is accused of were not done by Tyree. We are aggrieved, and shocked, by what has happened.”

Amy Haywood, who is an aunt of Ogsbury-Jones’ mother, told the judge that Ogsbury-Jones’ mother and father are “good, hardworking parents.”

Haywood said she’d always known Tyree Ogsbury-Jones – who has two brothers – to be “loving, kind, funny, humorous and playful.” She said Ogsbury-Jones had always been devoted in helping his younger brother, 16, who suffers from muscular dystrophy. It’s a health situation, she said, that places “heavy stress on the family. ... A lot of care is required.”

Moran urged Wilson to lower Ogsbury-Jones’ bond from $1 million to something more financially achievable, saying, “‘Excessive bail shall not be required’ under the Eighth Amendment of the Bill of Rights.”

He said that by setting such a high bond amount, the court was being “dishonest” as well as unconstitutional.

Moran noted the court can deny a defendant bond outright under certain circumstances – for instance, if the court determines that the defendant’s release poses a danger to society.

“If the prosecution wants to deny bail, there is a method for doing so,” he said.

Moran said by setting bail that high, the court was functionally denying Ogsbury-Jones bond without its having had to establish that Ogsbury-Jones doesn’t deserve bond.

“It’s a purposeful effort to keep Mr. Ogsbury in custody,” said Moran.

Prosecutor Reid Stewart mostly did not engage with Moran’s interpretation of the Constitution and instead argued that bond should remain $1 million, citing Ogsbury-Jones’ criminal justice history.

Wilson denied the defense’s motion to lower bond, ruling that $1 million bonds are typically set in Colorado murder cases, and therefore, not “excessive.”

Furthermore, Wilson said that given the sheer length of the prison sentence Ogsbury-Jones is facing if convicted, Wilson deemed the chances of Ogsbury-Jones’ showing up for trial if released from jail on reduced bond to be “fairly low.”

cmcallister@durangoherald.com

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