Judge dismisses Club Q contempt case against El Paso County Sheriff's Office
Jan. 11—An El Paso County judge on Wednesday heard from attorneys representing former El Paso County Sheriff Bill Elder wanting to dismiss a contempt allegation against their client for allegedly leaking sealed document to the media.
The allegations raised by the defense attorneys for Anderson Aldrich, the alleged Club Q shooter, were in regard to Aldrich's 2021 bomb threat case where Aldrich allegedly threatened to detonate a bomb and told their grandparents that they wanted to be "the next mass shooter."
Aldrich's defense attorney Joseph Archambault argued that Elder, or someone working for the El Paso County Sheriff's Office, must have leaked sealed documents to the press while the seal order for the case was still active.
In August 2022, Aldrich's case was dismissed and sealed by an El Paso County judge because Aldrich's mother and grandparents ignored subpoenas and refused to testify, according to 4th Judicial District Attorney Michael Allen.
Archambault requested that Judge Robin Chittum set for a show-cause hearing to further investigate holding Elder in contempt of the court.
Nathan Whitney, an attorney representing Elder and the El Paso County Sheriff's Office, argued that the motion filed by Aldrich's defense did not show sufficient proof that Elder or the sheriff's office were specifically to blame for information being leaked to media.
Whitney also argued that because the sealing order had been lifted, there is no longer any jurisdiction to hold anyone in contempt for leaking documents that are no longer under a seal order.
After hearing arguments from both parties, Chittum stated that while she agreed that "someone" had violated the sealing order from the court the defense had not shown sufficient proof that Elder or the El Paso County Sheriff's Office were specifically responsible, and thus could not be held in contempt.
"This is a strange inquiry," Chittum said in reference to the motions filed by the defense. "I have never heard a contempt request that is so gray."
As a result, Chittum denied the defense's request for a show cause hearing and approved the request from the attorneys representing Elder and the El Paso County Sheriff's Office to dismiss the motion to hold Elder in contempt of the court.
Whitney confirmed to The Gazette following the hearing that there is no more pending litigation regarding contempt in Aldrich's 2021 bomb threat case.
On Friday afternoon Aldrich will return to Colorado's 4th District Court to for a motions hearing on the 2022 shooting at the LGBTQ+ nightclub Club Q in Colorado Springs.
Aldrich currently faces 305 criminal charges for allegedly killing five patrons of Club Q and injuring nearly two dozen more on Nov. 19, 2022. The Gazette reported on Monday that Allen filed a motion to add 12 new criminal charges to Aldrich's case.
Allen proposed the new charges in connection with two victims who survived the attack. The amended charges include attempted murder, attempted assault and bias-motivated crime against each of the victims. The total charge count would rise to 317.
The original charges included 10 counts of first-degree murder, 86 counts of attempted first-degree murder and 48 counts of bias motivated crime.
Aldrich will have their preliminary hearing for the Club Q shooting next month on Feb. 22. Aldrich is currently in the El Paso County jail with no possibility of posting bond.
