Denver Stabber a Fugitive From Justice with an Active Warrant on a PR Bond for Sex Assault at Time of Stabbings

When we heard the Denver Police Chief and Mayor go down on the mall with the stabber in jail and a police presence around them declaring it safe and not part of a systematic problem, we have to say: wrong.

To their credit, we like the Chief and the Mayor, they are doing a bang-up job of cleaning up Denver, and it’s not actually their fault.  That’s not to say they are powerless to do something about it.

Candidly, the robed third branch of government is failing the people of Denver.  They still think bail is unfair to the poor, like the stabber.  Indeed, these senseless killings are part of a larger issue going on in Denver.  And not only is it a large issue—what is going on is straight up and completely illegal, which we have been pointing out for years.  In fact, we told former DA McCann, in writing, about this illegal activity when she took office, which of course she knew about from her time in the State Legislature, and she sent a short letter back saying, in essence, it wasn’t her problem.  We’d be glad to send that over if you’d like to see it.

But, let’s get right into it—at the time of the stabbings Mr. Caudill was out on bail for a sexual assault, Case No. 24M01361.  In fact, he had failed to appear in court on December 20, 2024, and there was an active warrant for his arrest issued on December 20, 2024, which was active at the time of the stabbings.  Apparently, the Police Department did not feel that the arrest warrant was serious enough to go take action upon it at the time.  You can check our work here: https://public.denvercountycourt.org/Case/Quick

Mr. Caudill had spent of course previously time in prison, and had been charged and convicted of charges that include violence as an element.  In fact, strangulation is one of the most serious crimes in terms of indicia of likelihood of another violent crime, but that apparently doesn’t alarm Denver's robed class.  He also had a history of failing to appear in court and any number of prior arrests.  So, how could he have been out on a PR bond as non-risky offender with no sureties, 90 days of pretrial supervision that expired due to his “compliance,” and nothing else except some flimsy requirement to go to treatment?  Let’s detail what happened:

First, Mr. Caudill was given a 90% bail discount by the judge, which is illegal in Colorado.  All bonds must instead be fully secured in Colorado in the “full amount.”  That occurred on February 29, 2024.  The Court imposed a $1,500 bail amount, but allowed Mr. Caudill to post 10% of that bail, to then be released under a zero percent chance he would ever have to pay back the rest if he no showed (“10% cash” is the code in the system).  The so-called “Ten Percent to the Court” system has been prohibited in Colorado since the late 1970s.[1]  The legislature has not authorized 10% to the Court at any time since, and Colorado Supreme Court says it cannot be done unless authorized by law.  It has NOT been authorized by law.

Second, Mr Caudill then luckily had his bond lowered again by the judge, this time to $500 with another illegal 10% to the court cash option of a mere $50 for release.  For alleged sexual assault by a person who has spent time in prison with multiple failures to appear in court!

Third, Mr. Caudill got even luckier if you can believe it—he was given a $1 cash bond.  As we have pointed out, this is also illegal, and of course the prosecutors from Beth McCann’s pro-bail reform DA’s office didn’t object like they never do when judges do $1 bonds for felons carrying around firearms.  Plainly, Under Stack v. Boyle, 342 U.S. 1 (1951), a $1 bail simply cannot be “reasonably calculated” to ensure the appearance of the defendant or to protect the safety of the public.  In Denver courts, apparently their calculators work differently.  Yet, if $1 can achieve the purposes of bail, we’d like to see new DA John Walsh’s brief on that point, because we think that argument is a straight loser.

Fourth, if you thought Mr. Caudill’s luck was then going to run out after he didn’t post a $1 bond, think again—he was then relieved of the horrifying burden of having to post a single greenback and given instead a release on a personal recognizance bond.  That PR bond, the Clerk of the Court will tell you, required a future forfeiture by Mr. Caudill if he no-showed in court.  But the Clerk probably doesn’t want you to know that was a mere promise to pay $100 later if he violated the terms of the conditions of the bond or failed to show up, which of course he did by stabbing four people, two of them fatally.  In other words, he was now out on a get-out-of-jail free card for sexual assault.

If the law was actually followed in this case, what would have happened?  Mr. Caudill would be in jail right now and these crimes would have not occurred.  In fact, the bond documents in the Court’s system don’t reflect that Mr. Caudill ever executed the bond form either, which includes the standard conditions of bond like not committing more crimes.  So, did he violate a bond he never agreed to?  Doesn’t matter now.

How many 90% illegal criminal bail discounts are given in Colorado by judges every year by defendants who gone to victimize someone?  Might be time to audit that, and also the 100% bail discounts given where the courts for decades have never collected a dollar owed the State of Colorado when the defendant violates.  Of course, absent an audit, there’s no way to know to the extent of the illegal activities engaged in by judges.  We have written to judges ad naseum, we have written to the State Court Administrator and the Chief Justice, and all of them have uniformly give us the same one-finger ghost response.  We will compliment DA McCann for recognizing that the issue is a problem, by pointing out that it was not a problem that was hers.  Will someone hold them accountable?  We sincerely doubt it.  But, they knowingly release people in violation of Colorado law who then go on stab people.  It’s one thing when criminal conduct breaks the chain of liability—it's another when illegal judicial acts lead to a result, the tie-breaker that releases someone from the safety of state custody to the streets of Denver.  Indeed, they must be held to account for these and the many other people injured by these policies.

So, next time people are being stabbed on the streets in downtown Denver, resist the temptation to think that they are a mere first-timer and that the state could have done nothing to stop what happened.  Judges in Colorado could start by following the law, and the prosecutors need to start making them.  We encourage the Mayor take a serious look at this issue—bail reform is one thing for those who don’t present a risk, but when risky defendants are arrested for sexual assault in Denver, the law needs to be followed.  Or, preventable tragedies will happen.

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[1] People v. Dist. Ct., 196 Colo. 116 (1978).  Note, despite changes in 2013 and 2014, the statute still requires the “full amount” of the bond to be posted.