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GLENWOOD SPRINGS, Colorado — A Glenwood Springs man has been sentenced to 14 years in prison for a 2008 Strawberry Days weekend rape that occurred in downtown Glenwood.
Matthew Donald Weaver, 24, accepted a plea agreement in September to charges of first degree assault with a deadly weapon and attempted sexual assault against an unwilling victim.
He initially pleaded not guilty to felony counts of second-degree kidnapping and sexual assault on a Denver woman with whom he was acquainted, and the case appeared headed to trial before the Sept. 20 plea deal.
At a Nov. 19 sentencing hearing in Garfield County District Court, Judge Daniel Petre sentenced Weaver to 14 years in the Department of Corrections, plus restitution for the victim to be determined.
Weaver had been held in the Garfield County Jail since his arrest on Jan. 9, 2010, 18 months after the June 21, 2008, incident in which, according to court records, he forced the victim into a narrow alley near the intersection of Grand Avenue and 10th Street in Glenwood Springs and raped her.
The arrest came after the Colorado Bureau of Investigation returned a positive semen sample taken from the inside of the victim's pants, identifying Weaver as the suspect.
Glenwood Springs Police Detective John Hassell testified at a preliminary hearing in April that the victim told him that she knew Weaver and had spoken with him outside of a bar in downtown Glenwood Springs minutes before the incident.
According to court records, the victim told police that after a conversation with Weaver around 2:30 a.m. she started walking south on Grand Avenue, when she was approached from behind. The victim told authorities that she was forcibly guided into the alley and raped.
Judge Petre ruled after the preliminary hearing that there was sufficient evidence to support a trial. At the time, Weaver's attorney, Mark Rubinstein, told the judge that he hoped that a plea deal could be reached and a trial avoided.
Following Weaver's initial plea of not guilty, Petre scheduled a trial for late October. As part of the September plea agreement, the kidnapping and sexual assault charges were dismissed.
Had he been convicted at trial, Weaver would have possibly faced life in prison.
jstroud@postindependent.com
Matthew Donald Weaver, 24, accepted a plea agreement in September to charges of first degree assault with a deadly weapon and attempted sexual assault against an unwilling victim.
He initially pleaded not guilty to felony counts of second-degree kidnapping and sexual assault on a Denver woman with whom he was acquainted, and the case appeared headed to trial before the Sept. 20 plea deal.
At a Nov. 19 sentencing hearing in Garfield County District Court, Judge Daniel Petre sentenced Weaver to 14 years in the Department of Corrections, plus restitution for the victim to be determined.
Weaver had been held in the Garfield County Jail since his arrest on Jan. 9, 2010, 18 months after the June 21, 2008, incident in which, according to court records, he forced the victim into a narrow alley near the intersection of Grand Avenue and 10th Street in Glenwood Springs and raped her.
The arrest came after the Colorado Bureau of Investigation returned a positive semen sample taken from the inside of the victim's pants, identifying Weaver as the suspect.
Glenwood Springs Police Detective John Hassell testified at a preliminary hearing in April that the victim told him that she knew Weaver and had spoken with him outside of a bar in downtown Glenwood Springs minutes before the incident.
According to court records, the victim told police that after a conversation with Weaver around 2:30 a.m. she started walking south on Grand Avenue, when she was approached from behind. The victim told authorities that she was forcibly guided into the alley and raped.
Judge Petre ruled after the preliminary hearing that there was sufficient evidence to support a trial. At the time, Weaver's attorney, Mark Rubinstein, told the judge that he hoped that a plea deal could be reached and a trial avoided.
Following Weaver's initial plea of not guilty, Petre scheduled a trial for late October. As part of the September plea agreement, the kidnapping and sexual assault charges were dismissed.
Had he been convicted at trial, Weaver would have possibly faced life in prison.
jstroud@postindependent.com
