Judge dismisses case against man accused of attacking Aurora students in Park County

AURORA | A Park County judge on Tuesday agreed to dismiss charges against a Bailey resident accused of attacking a group of Community College of Aurora students last March.

Students previously told The Sentinel that Jon Spencer, 29, attacked them while using racially-charged language after one of their cars became stuck on the unpaved, snowy road near Spencer’s home. Spencer faced two counts of third-degree assault and five counts of harassment in connection with the incident. 

11th Judicial District Attorney Linda Stanley asked judge Brian Green to dismiss the charges Tuesday, saying an investigation on behalf of prosecutors turned up inconsistencies between statements given by witnesses. She did not say what those discrepancies were.

“Those inconsistencies are a concern for the people in being able to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt and also a potential self-defense argument for Mr. Spencer,” Stanley said. “I simply cannot proceed if I don’t believe that I have enough evidence to prove it beyond a reasonable doubt.”

Students and their families were incredulous, accusing Stanley of not taking the case seriously and asking Green to deny Stanley’s motion to dismiss charges or else appoint a special prosecutor to take over the case. Green refused both requests.

“I’m just in complete shock. I know that I personally don’t agree with it being dismissed,” said Malarie Stafford-Mustacchio, one of the students present during the alleged attack. “I didn’t know about the dismissal until today.”

She said Stanley declined to tell her what the alleged inconsistencies were in the group’s statements. Stafford-Mustacchio also pointed out that sheriff’s deputies waited until the day after the alleged attack to get statements from the group, which could have impacted students’ recollections.

Deputies also waited until the following day to arrest Spencer, and multiple witnesses told The Sentinel that officers at the scene said they were afraid that Spencer might cause a domestic violence incident if they tried taking him into custody that night.

The driver of the vehicle that became stuck — who is Black, and who, witnesses say, Spencer called “a dumb, Black b – – – h” — said she had changed her legal name since the attack out of fear that Spencer would try to track her down.

“I disagree fully that it was self-defense. I mean, we saw our friend get brutally beaten,” she said. “It’s just very baffling to me that he can sit there and just live his life without any repercussions.”

Defense attorney Ehren Penix said the attention generated by the case had led to people leaving negative reviews for Spencer’s business and caused Spencer to put his home in Bailey up for sale.

Penix accused the students of attacking Spencer because “they didn’t want to hear that they shouldn’t be driving two-wheel drive in that weather because they didn’t want to be talked down to as city folks.”

“His life has been completely upended by these falsehoods,” Penix said. “Without even a conviction from the court, they have subjected him to public ridicule and loss of business and property, and all of this because he tried to help these people get their car unstuck.”

While Penix insisted Spencer was not a racist and claimed the allegation that Spencer used racially-charged language was not mentioned by students when deputies arrived on-scene, a video provided by the students shows Spencer telling the driver, “you’re Black, and you’re dumb.” 

In a now-deleted Facebook post, the Park County Sheriff’s Office also confirmed the basic facts of the case and said Spencer was “completely out of line and apparently prejudiced.”

Penix said attorneys working on the case were never shown the video footage captured by the group.

The Spencer case is not the first high-profile investigation where charges were brought by Stanley’s office, only to be dropped. Last year, Stanley also dismissed charges against Barry Morphew, who had been accused of murdering his missing wife, after Stanley allegedly failed to turn over evidence and was blocked by a judge from presenting key witnesses.

9News reported in October that Stanley’s handling of the Morphew case was at least one of the topics of interest for investigators affiliated with the Colorado Supreme Court’s Attorney Regulation Counsel, who were reportedly scrutinizing Stanley’s conduct. The entity has the power to discipline attorneys in the state.

On Tuesday, Attorney Regulation Counsel Jessica Yates told The Sentinel that the investigation into Stanley was ongoing but declined to provide more details.

Stanley’s law license was also temporarily suspended in 2022 after she failed to keep up with continuing legal education requirements, which is “very uncommon” for a district attorney, according to an interview Yates gave to the Cañon City Daily Record at the time.

Judge Green told those present for Tuesday’s court hearing that it was the job of Stanley’s office to decide charges for Spencer and other defendants.

“It is extremely unlikely that the court would deny a motion to dismiss. It’s the prosecutor’s job to make that decision. It’s not my job to overrule her in her charging decisions,” he said.

After Green accepted Stanley’s motion to dismiss charges against Spencer, one of the students reacted by saying, “Oh my f – – – – – g God.” Green then threatened to hold the student in contempt of court, warning that “if you’re going to be using profanity on this court line, you may find yourself in contempt, and you may be the one sitting in jail.”

The dismissal also means the lifting of an associated restraining order against Spencer. Spencer pleaded not guilty to the charges in October, and a jury trial in the case was originally scheduled for February.