{"id":97682,"date":"2018-10-03T22:23:34","date_gmt":"2018-10-04T04:23:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/damron-pleads-not-guilty-by-reason-of-insanity\/"},"modified":"2018-10-03T22:23:34","modified_gmt":"2018-10-04T04:23:34","slug":"damron-pleads-not-guilty-by-reason-of-insanity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/damron-pleads-not-guilty-by-reason-of-insanity\/","title":{"rendered":"Damron pleads not guilty by reason of insanity"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Jeremiah
Jeremiah Paul Damron, center, during his arrest last year on suspicion of homicide.<\/span>Journal file<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Jeremiah Paul Damron, who is charged with first-degree murder of his mother last summer, pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

The plea sets in motion a mandatory mental health evaluation to determine whether he was insane at the time of the slaying. No finding has been issued by the court on the validity of Damron\u2019s insanity defense.<\/p>\n

Montezuma County District Court Judge Todd Plewe ordered Damron into the custody of the Colorado Mental Health Institute at Pueblo, where he will be evaluated. Plewe denied a request by Damron\u2019s lawyer to have him evaluated by a team of doctors from the University of Denver.<\/p>\n

At the end of the evaluation, which is expected to take months, a report and recommendation from the doctors on the insanity claim will be issued to the court.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn a not-guilty-by-insanity defense, doctors determine if a defendant knew right from wrong at the time of the offense,\u201d said 22nd Judicial District Attorney Will Furse.<\/p>\n

If they determine he was insane, their recommendation will be reviewed by the district attorney and judge. If the prosecutor and judge agree, the judge can make a finding of not guilty by reason of insanity.<\/p>\n

At that point, Damron would be committed to the Colorado Mental Health Institute, and could be released only at the recommendation of doctors.<\/p>\n

If there is disagreement on the recommendation, a mental health evaluation could be sought, or the case could go to trial.<\/p>\n

If the recommendation finds that Damron was sane at the time of the slaying, defense attorneys could seek another evaluation. If deemed sane by the court, the case could then go to trial, or a plea bargain negotiated.<\/p>\n

On Aug. 1, Plewe ruled that Damron was competent to stand trial for the murder of Kristie Damron, 62, whose body was found beaten and burned in his backyard outside Cortez.<\/p>\n

Plewe\u2019s decision ended a competency hearing with three expert witnesses, two who had evaluated Damron this year and found him competent to proceed to trial, and one who had found him incompetent in 2017.<\/p>\n

All three stated it was possible that without ongoing treatment, Damron\u2019s bipolar disorder could deteriorate to the point that he was no longer competent to proceed. None would speculate about his current level of competency.<\/p>\n

Arguments in the Aug. 1 competency hearing often turned to Damron\u2019s diagnosis of bipolar disorder and the amnesia that he says he suffered at the time of his mother\u2019s death. The expert witnesses emphasized the dynamic nature of his bipolar episodes, and said they could resurface during a trial.<\/p>\n

Furse argued that Damron met the Colorado standard for competency \u2013 understanding the legal proceedings and assisting in his defense \u2013 despite his bipolar disorder and amnesia.<\/p>\n

While acknowledging that Damron\u2019s competency could change if his mental condition deteriorated, Furse argued that previous rulings found that amnesia did not prevent defendants from assisting counsel.<\/p>\n

Defense attorney John Moran argued that Damron\u2019s amnesia rendered him incompetent to proceed, in part because art, he could not recall the facts surrounding his mother\u2019s death.<\/p>\n

For Plewe, the case came down to the 2001 Colorado Supreme Court decision in People vs. Palmer, which found that amnesia by itself does not constitute incompetency unless it rendered a defendant unable to understand the proceedings or assist in his defense. Plewe said Damron met the standard for competency even if he had experienced amnesia.<\/p>\n

Damron, now 37, was arrested on North Sligo Street by Montezuma County Sheriff Steve Nowlin and two Cortez police officers on July 20, 2017. Nowlin said officers had responded to a report of a homicide at Damron\u2019s mobile home in the 7000 block of County Road 21.75, near County Road G.<\/p>\n

The body of Kristie Damron, was found in his backyard that morning.<\/p>\n

Deputies confronted Damron the night before the arrest in response to a report of domestic violence. Nowlin said deputies were able to remove Damron\u2019s wife and son from the property.<\/p>\n

Damron was charged with first-degree murder on July 28, 2017. The charge carries a minimum sentence of life in prison.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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