Marquez to enter plea in fatal hit-and-run case May 19

Judge grants six-week continuance at March 31 hearing

BY CORINNE WESTEMAN CWESTEMAN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Ruben Marquez, the alleged driver in the fatal hit-and-run outside a Golden bar, is now expected to enter a plea May 19 after his March 31 arraignment was rescheduled.

Marquez, 29, is facing rst-degree murder, vehicular homicide and multiple assault charges for allegedly driving a truck into a crowd of people outside e Rock Rest Lodge on Oct. 9. Adrian Ponce, 26, was killed in the incident, and at least four others were injured, including Rock Rest employees.

Marquez is now scheduled to enter a plea at 1:30 p.m. May 19 at the Je erson County Courthouse.

He appeared in custody during his March 31 court appearance, where his defense attorneys asked to continue his arraignment another six weeks, which the judge granted. is way, if Marquez pleads not guilty, the deadline for a speedy trial would be pushed back to November, his defense attorneys explained.

By state law, a defendant must be tried within six months of entering a not-guilty plea, although a defen- dant can choose to waive this right. e defense attorneys said their calendars are “jam-packed with trials and vacations” over the next several months, and setting back the arraignment and thus the speedy trial requirement seemed logical. e prosecutors didn’t object, but said Ponce’s family “is frustrated with the timing and how long this is taking.”

Judge Lindsay VanGilder granted the continuance. If Marquez plead- ed not guilty March 31, she wasn’t sure how everyone involved would coordinate his trial by the end of September, especially with codefendant Ernesto Avila’s nine-day trial in late August.

Avila, 25, pleaded not guilty to a felony accessory charge in February, and he’s scheduled for trial from Aug. 22-Sept. 1. He owns the truck involved in the hit-and-run, but Je co Sheri ’s O ce investigators believe he was a passenger when the truck hit the crowd.

Marquez’s attorneys disputed those claims at his three-day preliminary hearing last month, saying witnesses gave con icting descriptions of the driver. e defense promoted the theory that Avila was the driver and that he “confessed” in a recorded interview with law enforcement.

During Marquez’s preliminary hearing, the prosecution said multiple witnesses described Marquez as the driver, including the bar manager who picked him out of a photo lineup. ey also said Avila’s supposed confession shouldn’t be taken at face value, as he’s clearly intoxicated in the footage, and VanGilder agreed that Avila was “talking in circles” during the interview.

However, because of this argument by Marquez’s defense attorneys, VanGilder ruled to sever Avila’s case from Marquez’s, meaning they’ll have separate trials if Marquez pleads not guilty.

“At a joint trial, Mr. Marquez would be pointing the nger at Mr. Avila, and he’s only charged with the accessory, and he’d legally only be defending the accessory crime,” VanGilder said at Avila’s March 6 pretrial conference. “But, to a jury, he’d be left to defend an impression that … he was the driver.”

She recognized how separate trials would have duplicative evidence and create “di culties for the victims” and Ponce’s family. However, she feared having a joint trial would create an appellate record and “require retrials for both defendants.”

BY CORINNE WESTEMAN CWESTEMAN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Like taking a deep breath before diving underwater, the Golden community is preparing for a very busy summer along the Clear Creek corridor.

And many Goldenites see additional safety requirements and mitigating environmental impacts as priorities, based on feedback at a March 30 community meeting.

Since 2012, creek visitation has increased year-over-year. Last summer, the city implemented several changes, such as requiring permits for tubing out tters, implementing paid parking along 10th Street, and turning the ball elds parking lot into a drop-o area and ADA-accessible lot.

City sta has recommended more changes in 2023, but asked for Goldenites’ feedback on March 30, with about 80 residents, out tters, city sta members and elected o cials in attendance.

Deputy City Manager Carly Lorentz gave a brief overview of the city’s current management strategies, noting how weekends and holidays are three times busier than weekdays. She reiterated that the