Anderson Lee Aldrich, 22, sat upright in a chair through the listening to and appeared alert. In an earlier court docket look only a few days after the taking pictures, the defendant’s head and face had been lined with bruises and Aldrich needed to be prompted by attorneys to reply to questions from a decide.
Investigators mentioned Aldrich entered Club Q, a sanctuary for the LGBTQ neighborhood within the principally conservative metropolis of Colorado Springs, simply earlier than midnight on November 19 and started taking pictures throughout a drag queen’s birthday celebration.
The killing stopped after patrons wrestled the suspect to the bottom, beating Aldrich into submission, they mentioned.
Aldrich had been held on hate crime costs however prosecutors had mentioned beforehand they weren’t certain if these counts would stick as a result of they wanted to evaluate if there was satisfactory proof to point out it was a bias motivated crime.
District Attorney Michael Allen had famous that homicide costs would carry the harshest penalty — doubtless life in jail — but additionally mentioned it was essential to point out the neighborhood that bias motivated crimes will not be tolerated if there was proof to assist the cost.
Allen didn’t element the costs in Tuesday’s listening to however mentioned they included “many counts of bias motivated crimes.” He declined at a later news convention to debate what proof prosecutors discovered to again the hate crimes costs.
“We are not going to tolerate actions against community members based on their sexual identity,” mentioned Allen. “Members of that community have been harassed, intimidated and abused for too long.”
Judge Michael McHenry ordered the arrest warrant affidavit within the case to be unsealed on Wednesday, over the objections of Aldrich’s lawyer who mentioned he was involved in regards to the defendant’s proper to a good trial because of publicity surrounding the case.
Aldrich, who’s nonbinary and makes use of they/them pronouns in accordance with protection court docket filings, was arrested on the membership by police. They haven’t entered a plea or spoken in regards to the occasions.
Experts say somebody who’s nonbinary may be charged with a hate crime for focusing on fellow members of the identical group as a result of hate crime legal guidelines are targeted on the victims, not the perpetrator.
But bringing a hate crime case to conviction may be tough, as a result of prosecutors should show what motivated the defendant, a better customary than often required in court docket.
Colorado prosecutors will want concrete proof similar to statements Aldrich might have made in regards to the taking pictures, Frank Pezzella, an affiliate professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, mentioned.
“It’s got to be more than he shot up Club Q,” he mentioned.
According to witnesses, Aldrich fired first at individuals gathered on the membership’s bar earlier than spraying bullets throughout the dance ground through the assault, which got here on the eve of an annual day of remembrance for transgender individuals misplaced to violence.
More than a yr earlier than the taking pictures, Aldrich was arrested on allegations of constructing a bomb risk that led to the evacuation of about 10 properties. Aldrich threatened to hurt their very own household with a selfmade bomb, ammunition and a number of weapons, authorities mentioned on the time. Aldrich was booked into jail on suspicion of felony menacing and kidnapping, however the case was apparently later sealed and it is unclear what turned of the costs. There are not any public indications that the case led to a conviction.
Ring doorbell video obtained by the AP reveals Aldrich arriving at their mom’s entrance door with an enormous black bag, telling her the police had been close by and including, “This is where I stand. Today I die.”
