Judge Reduces Charges For Noe Gamez-Ruiz In Death Of Trooper Cody Donahue
CASTLE ROCK, Colo. (CBS4) - A judge has significantly reduced the seriousness of the charges a truck driver faces over the death of a Colorado State Patrol trooper. Noe Gamez-Ruiz was set to go on trial for a third time after two mistrials were declared, but that may change now that he faces only misdemeanor charges instead of a felony charge.
The court says the felony charge was dropped as a sanction against the prosecution after it failed to turn over all the evidence to the defense. The judge cited "a pattern of discovery violations" in the case.
Trooper Cody Donahue died in November 2016 after being hit by a semi-trailer driven by Noe Gamez-Ruiz on Interstate 25 near the Tomah exit.
Donahue was standing in the shoulder of the highway filling out a crash report when he was struck. Gamez-Ruiz was charged with criminally negligent homicide in the deadly crash. Last month, the second mistrial was declared in the case over the prosecution's failure to give information to defense attorneys.
The first trial ended in a mistrial in September 2018. Court officials say the judge made the ruling because -- as stated earlier -- the prosecution failed to disclose information to the defense.
Since Donahue's death, then-Gov. John Hickenlooper signed into law the Move Over For Cody act which created strict penalties for drivers who don't move over a lane when passing law enforcement, highway workers or tow truck drivers.