Denver judge allows roadkill investigation to continue despite promises

A Denver judge on Friday ruled that a murder investigation into a road rage shooting can proceed even though a paralegal said publicly that prosecutors believed the defendant acted in self-defense and should not be criminally charged.

Denver District Court Judge Karen Brody late Friday denied a request to dismiss the first-degree murder case against 32-year-old Nicholas Moodley. Moodley He is accused of murdering Shane Warn25, during a November 2023 road rage encounter at Park Avenue West and Blake Street in Denver near Coors Field.

Moodley’s lawyers argued that the charges should be dropped after a paralegal working for the Denver District Attorney’s Office told one of Moodley’s friends that they believed prosecutors “got it wrong” and should not charge Moodley with murder. Moodley claimed he acted in self-defense during the attack.

In his four-page order filed Friday, Brody disagreed with defense attorneys and stated that the paralegal’s opinion of the case was not important, which defense attorneys did not indicate. prosecutors believe That Moodley acted in self-defense.

Prosecutors have an ethical obligation to pursue criminal prosecution only if they believe they can prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt. In court filings, prosecutors argued that Moodley committed murder and did not act in self-defense. Matt Jablow, a spokesman for the office, declined to comment Monday.

“Moodley in no way demonstrates that prosecutors in this case concluded that the charges against him were false or unprovable because he had a strong defense and was pursuing the case in bad faith,” Brody wrote.

Moodley is due to appear in court in December. He faces life in prison if convicted of first-degree murder. His attorney, Doug Richards, said Monday he respected but was disappointed in the judge’s decision. He had requested an evidentiary hearing to dispel the paralegal’s comments, but Brody denied that request as well.

“We still do not know the identity of the Denver prosecutors, who the office’s deputy attorney said agreed that this was a self-defense case and that the Denver DA made the wrong charging decision,” he said. “We were hoping a hearing would provide us with that information.”

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First Publication Date: November 11, 2024 10:42 MST

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