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    <title>Courts and Crime</title>
    <category>Courts and Crime</category>
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    <description>Latest local news from The Durango Herald.</description>
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        <link>https://tj.durangoherald.com/pleasant-view-man-sentenced-for-attempted-sexual-assault-and-second-degree-assault/</link>
        <title>Pleasant View man sentenced for attempted sexual assault and second-degree assault</title>
        <description>Jasper Melton Hurst pleaded guilty in March</description>
        <pubDate>Wed, 24 Jun 2026 18:54:30 -0600</pubDate>
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        <content:encoded><![CDATA[Jasper Melton Hurst pleaded guilty in MarchHurstA Pleasant View man and previously convicted sex offender was sentenced June 15 to six years in prison, the maximum allowed under terms of a plea agreement.In March, Jasper Melton Hurst pleaded guilty to attempted sexual assault on a child and second-degree assault.Twenty-second Judicial District Attorney Jeremy Reed told The Journal Hurst will be placed on sex offender intensive supervision probation for a period of 20 years and will be required to register as a sex offender in addition to his prison sentence.Hurst entered his plea in Dolores County District Court. Reed said the sentencing allowed the victim to have their life back.“The wishes of the survivor were of paramount importance. This courageous young person, in discussing the potential plea with the prosecutors and their mother, determined that they no longer wished to allow Jasper Hurst to have any control over their life,” Reed said. “They wanted to move on with their life, to go to prom and enjoy their life.”He said the victim’s courage resulted in Hurst’s prison and supervision “well into his 60s” and allowed the victim to have agency in their life and to live on their own terms.The victim’s mother provided The Journal with the victim’s statement to the court.In the statement, the victim said the damage Hurst caused reaches “far beyond a single victim.”The case was originally filed in February 2023 but was dismissed. It was refiled in September 2024 and included four counts of sexual assault on a child under 15 by one in a position of trust as part of a pattern of abuse, along with a crime of violence and habitual sexual offender allegations. A trial was originally set for April but was vacated after the plea deal.According to a redacted arrest affidavit obtained by the Journal earlier this year, Hurst committed multiple incidents of sexual abuse beginning around 2015 or 2016 and continuing into 2022, including inappropriate touching. Hurst threatened to kill the victim and family members if the abuse was reported.Hurst was previously convicted in Montezuma County of attempted sexual assault on a child by one in a position of trust in 2010.“Assistant District Attorney Justin Pierce and Deputy District Attorney Caroline Davenport, along with our partners at the Child Advocacy Center, Social Services and other members of our community, did a fantastic job of supporting this young survivor, and in pursuing justice against their perpetrator,” Reed said. “The community can be comfortable that for the next 26 years, Mr. Hurst will be under very strict supervision and required to register as a sexual offender for the remainder of his life.”bduran@the-journal.com]]></content:encoded>
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        <link>https://tj.durangoherald.com/cortez-man-sentenced-to-three-years-in-doc-for-menacing-police-officers/</link>
        <title>Cortez man sentenced to three years in DOC for menacing police officers</title>
        <description>Shane French was found guilty on six counts</description>
        <pubDate>Thu, 04 Jun 2026 08:33:44 -0600</pubDate>
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        <content:encoded><![CDATA[Cortez resident Shane French was sentenced to three years in the Department of Corrections on Friday. (Journal file)Shane French was found guilty on six countsA Cortez man was sentenced Friday to three years in the Department of Corrections after a jury in the U.S. 22nd Judicial District convicted him of six felony counts of menacing involving a knife and a simulated firearm against Cortez police officers.French received credit for 366 days of presentence confinement.French was convicted of six fifth-degree felony menacing counts. Three involved a knife and three involved a simulated firearm. He was also convicted of three misdemeanors for resisting arrest, obstructing government operations and disorderly conduct by displaying a simulated weapon. All victims were Cortez police officers.Prosecutors had asked for a nine-year sentence, citing French’s criminal history and the danger he posed to the community, law enforcement and himself, 22nd Judicial District Attorney Jeremy Reed told The Journal.The maximum possible sentence for the felonies, if served consecutively, was 18 years.FrenchThe convictions stemmed from a May 2025 confrontation when Cortez Police Department officers responded to a disturbance call at French’s mother’s home on Texas Street.According to incident reports from responding officers, French left the residence and confronted officers on Empire Street while armed with a knife. He later dropped the knife before displaying an object resembling a firearm, reports and officer testimony said. Body camera footage captured officers’ commands and efforts to calm French during the altercation.French later attempted to block the entry of officers when they obtained a warrant to enter the home.French has a prior 2020 conviction for threatening a parole officer with a weapon that was later reversed on appeal, and he was acquitted by a jury in 2014 on assault and resisting arrest charges. French and his family also settled a 2016 lawsuit against the city of Cortez and several police officers, saying officers illegally entered their home.bduran@the-journal.com]]></content:encoded>
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        <link>https://tj.durangoherald.com/cortez-man-found-guilty-in-2025-menacing-case/</link>
        <title>Cortez man found guilty in 2025 menacing case</title>
        <description>Sentencing is scheduled for the end of May</description>
        <pubDate>Thu, 14 May 2026 08:30:00 -0600</pubDate>
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        <content:encoded><![CDATA[Shane French, who was recently found guilty by a jury for a 2025 menacing case, is scheduled to have his sentencing hearing on May 29.Sentencing is scheduled for the end of MayA jury in the U.S. 22nd Judicial District found a Cortez resident guilty in a menacing case that resulted after a confrontation with police in May 2025.Shane French was found guilty on six counts of menacing involving a real or simulated weapon, plus charges of obstruction of government operations, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct for displaying a weapon in public. His sentencing is scheduled for Friday, May 29 at 9 a.m.French was arrested in May 2025 on suspicion of menacing with a deadly weapon and assault on a peace officer after a confrontation with police.At a hearing last year, Cortez Police Department Officer Koltan Guttridge testified that he, Sgt. Brent Jarmon and Officer Kadan Sharp responded to a disturbance call made by French’s mother from her Texas Street residence. According to Guttridge’s testimony and an incident report obtained by The Journal, French left the home and confronted officers on Empire Street, yelling and armed with a knife. He dropped the knife before holding up an object that resembled a firearm.Shane French.Three of the menacing counts involved the knife and three involved the simulated firearm, District Attorney Jeremy Reed told The Journal.Body camera footage from the three officers captured officers’ commands for French to drop the knife and their efforts to de-escalate the situation. Police later obtained a warrant and entered the home after French had gone back inside. There, he allegedly blocked their entry and struggled with them.A search of the home turned up a pipe with suspected methamphetamine residue and a gun-shaped lighter. Additional drug paraphernalia was located during a hospital evaluation and further search.French has a prior conviction from 2020 for threatening a parole officer with a weapon. That conviction was reversed after the Colorado Court of Appeals requested that a new trial be held after claims that French acted in self-defense against the parole officer who he allegedly thought was a trespasser. In 2014, he was acquitted by a jury on assault and resisting arrest charges.French and his family later settled a 2016 lawsuit against the city of Cortez and several police officers over claims of illegal entry into their home.bduran@the-journal.com]]></content:encoded>
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        <link>https://tj.durangoherald.com/october-trial-set-for-cortez-mother-accused-of-daughters-death/</link>
        <title>October trial set for Cortez mother accused of daughter’s death</title>
        <description>Rachel Leonard’s attorney says expert witness is ‘critical’ to defense</description>
        <pubDate>Mon, 11 May 2026 15:40:38 -0600</pubDate>
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        <content:encoded><![CDATA[Rachel Leonard’s attorney says expert witness is ‘critical’ to defenseRachel LeonardA two-week trial has been scheduled for October in the case against Rachel Leonard, the Cortez woman accused of killing her 5-year-old daughter, Annika Sandoval.The closely watched Montezuma County homicide case has repeatedly filled courtrooms for months with supporters from Annika’s paternal side, as well as Leonard’s family.The trial is set to begin Oct. 7 in the 22nd Judicial District. Prosecutors allege Leonard, 38, intentionally caused Annika’s death in March 2022, and a grand jury indicted her on a charge of first-degree murder last August.During Monday’s hearing, Leonard entered a not guilty plea as the lawyers and Chief Judge Todd Plewe worked through trial setting dates. Defense lawyers had to fight to find a date that worked with their medical expert’s schedule.The judge pushed back on allowing the expert’s schedule to dictate court dates: “Your expert is not running my courtroom. You got to be flexible. … You got to be more flexible than this,” Plewe told defense attorneys.“Whatever we’ve got to do to make that happen. It’s been some time now that we’ve been working with this person,” stated Public Defender John Moran. “It’s critical to our defense to be able to call our doctor.”Ultimately, the Oct. 7 to Oct. 21 trial dates were available for all parties, and Plewe scheduled a full-day motions hearing for Aug. 13.The case so far: Disputes center on medical findingsMonday’s discussion on medical experts follows consistent themes of prior hearings, in which that type of testimony is expected to play a role at the trial.At dispute is how Annika died and whether it involved intentional homicide, as prosecutors allege, or resulted from an undiagnosed medical condition or sudden, unexplained death, as Leonard’s defense team argues.Photo of Annika Mae Sandoval. (Courtesy photo/Montrose Daily Press)Earlier hearings centered on 3,000 pages of discovery from prosecutors, indicating years’ worth of investigation, and a mental health evaluation that ultimately delayed the defense from entering Leonard’s plea until now.Meanwhile, throughout court proceedings, Moran and Deputy Public Defender Benjamin Currier continually urged the judge to reconsider lowering Leonard’s $2 million bond. Moran said the state’s evidence contains “real issues with the facts of the case.”Plewe then reduced Leonard’s bond in January over newly disclosed genetic testing that emerged from the state’s discovery.“The reality is, I am not here to decide today whether she is guilty or not guilty, whether she committed this crime or not,” Plewe stated before ruling on a lower bond Jan. 16, noting it was not a finding on guilt.“As a judge, it’s hard to go back and determine what grand jurors would have decided with this genetic testing,” he said. “Based on my Google searches, this makes the case very interesting and very difficult.”During the lengthy Jan. 16 bond hearing, Moran argued three genetic markers identified could point to seizure disorders or cardiac-related sudden death.Moran called the findings “a nightmare for the prosecution’s case” and argued the grand jury may not have indicted Leonard had it known about the testing.The prosecution’s account focuses on the events leading up to the child’s death associated with an informal parental custody arrangement, medical summaries, and digital evidence of Google searches made from Leonard’s phone.According to an August grand jury indictment, Leonard’s phone showed Google searches in the days before the child’s death for “How long does it take to suffocate” and “Will 150 500 mg of Tylenol P.M. overdose?”The medical report lists Annika’s manner and cause of death as “undetermined.” Pathologist Michael Arnall, assisted by Montezuma County Coroner George Deavers, found mild cerebral edema or swelling in the brain but no trauma, drowning, obstruction, food allergy or disease to explain her death.Instead, the indictment details statements from the medical examiners, arguing that while there were generally no signs of suffocation, “if a person is unconscious or passed out, someone could put a pillow over their face and there would be no signs of suffocation, except for some cerebral edema.”awatson@the-journal.com]]></content:encoded>
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        <link>https://tj.durangoherald.com/montezuma-county-man-pleads-guilty-to-attempted-sexual-assault-second-degree-assault/</link>
        <title>Montezuma County man pleads guilty to attempted sexual assault, second-degree assault</title>
        <description>His sentencing will be held June 15</description>
        <pubDate>Mon, 30 Mar 2026 17:49:30 -0600</pubDate>
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        <content:encoded><![CDATA[Jasper Melton Hurst will be sentenced on June 15.His sentencing will be held June 15A Pleasant View man and previously convicted sex offender pleaded guilty March 23 to felony attempted sexual assault on a child and second-degree assault causing serious bodily injury in a case that alleged repeated abuse of a child under 15.Jasper Melton Hurst entered the pleas in Dolores County District Court. He faces one to six years in the Colorado Department of Corrections, to be determined at sentencing June 15.The sentence will be followed by 20 years of sex offender intensive supervised probation and lifetime sex offender registration. Failure to comply with probation could result in an additional five to 16 years in prison.Chief Judge Todd Plewe of the 22nd Judicial District remanded Hurst into custody after the pleas.The prosecutor emphasized the victim’s courage in coming forward.“This case underscores the importance of believing survivors. This young person showed incredible courage coming forward, and I sincerely hope the resolution of this case will offer her a measure of justice,” District Attorney Jeremy Reed told The Journal.Reed said the plea agreement ensures a prison sentence followed by decades of intensive supervision, with Hurst required to register as a sex offender for life. He credited law enforcement, child advocacy partners and prosecutors for their work on the case, which spanned nearly four years.The case was filed in February 2023 and later dismissed. It was refiled in September 2024 and included four counts of sexual assault on a child under 15 by one in a position of trust, as part of a pattern of abuse, with crime of violence and habitual sexual offender allegations. A trial originally scheduled for April was vacated after the plea.According to an arrest affidavit, the child disclosed multiple incidents of sexual abuse by Hurst beginning around 2015 or 2016, with incidents continuing into 2022. The disclosures included inappropriate touching.The child also reported that Hurst threatened to kill the victim and family members if the abuse was reported.Hurst was previously convicted in Montezuma County in 2010 of attempted sexual assault on a child by one in a position of trust.]]></content:encoded>
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