GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (AP) - A Colorado man accused of killing Mesa County Sheriff’s Deputy Derek Geer in 2016 will face two trials on multiple charges.
The Daily Sentinel reported (https://bit.ly/2qSZmKo ) Tuesday that 19-year-old Austin Holzer will start a three-week trial Jan. 8 as an adult on a first-degree murder charge. He will then face a three-day trial on unrelated charges.
The second trial will be on charges of failing to register as a sex offender, defacing a firearm and theft of firearms.
The trials are not joined because Holzer’s public defenders contend that evidence of the requirement that Holzer should have registered as a sex offender would stigmatize him in the eyes of the jury at a joint trial.
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This story has been corrected to show the deputy’s last name is spelled Geer, not Greer.
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Information from: The Daily Sentinel, https://www.gjsentinel.com
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