Parachute man headed for trial on sex assault charge
Post Independent Staff
GLENWOOD SPRINGS — A Parachute man facing charges of sexual assault and other felonies is headed for trial next year, a judge ordered on Thursday.
Shawn Martin Angell, 43, was arrested on March 24 by Garfield County Sheriff’s Office deputies, after they were dispatched to a location outside of Parachute to check on reports of a sexual assault. After investigating the situation, the deputies arrested Angell on charges of trespassing, tampering with evidence, third degree assault, second degree kidnapping, first degree sexual assault, child abuse, illegal use of a stun gun, and first degree burglary.
He is being held in the Garfield County Jail on a bond of $1 million.
Angell had not entered a plea in the case as of Thursday, and there was speculation among some courthouse observers that a plea bargain may have been in the works.
But prosecutor Steve Mallory asked District Judge Daniel Petre to set a trial date on Thursday, rather than another in a string of continuances, an indication that if plea negotiations had been under way they had not been successful so far.
Judge Petre, however, said he did not want to set a trial date without a plea from the defendant, so Angell pleaded not guilty. Angell also formally waived his rights to have a speedy trial, which would have required the trial to be held within six months of the date he pleaded not guilty.
The trial is set for two weeks in February 2014, but the judge stated in his order that the prosecution and the defense have 60 days to reach a “resolution,” an indication that plea negotiations are continuing.
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