By Sam Lounsberry <\/p>\n
Reporter-Herald Staff Writer <\/p>\n
Corzo-Avendano <\/p>\n
A 13-day trial is set to start Monday for Tolentino Corzo-Avendano, who has been charged with first-degree murder in the February 2016 stabbing attack in a Fort Collins home that left a woman blind in one eye and her grandmother dead. <\/p>\n
Attorneys met to discuss the course of the upcoming trial at a hearing Wednesday, and the planned testimony of a former co-defendant in the murder case became a point of contention between prosecution and defense teams. <\/p>\n
Corzo-Avendano, 27, was arrested after the reported stabbing of 26-year-old Sara Mondragon and her 61-year-old grandmother Cathy Mondragon, who died shortly after the attack. <\/p>\n
Sara Mondragon is now reportedly blind in her left eye and can no longer walk. <\/p>\n
A co-defendant of Corzo-Avendano, 42-year-old Tomas Vigil, was also originally charged with first-degree murder in the incident, but has since accepted a plea agreement for admitting to armed burglary with a crime of violence sentence enhancer. <\/p>\n
Vigil is still being held in the Larimer County Jail, though, and because the District Attorney's Office plans to call him as a witness in its case against Corzo-Avendano during trial, Vigil's pending testimony was discussed between prosecuting and defense attorneys Wednesday. <\/p>\n
Deputy District Attorney Nick Cummings said Vigil should not be allowed to be cross-examined by Corzo-Avendano's defense counsel due to Vigil's likely choice to remain silent and plead the Fifth Amendment. <\/p>\n
However, defense attorney Kathryn Hay argued a witness's right to the Fifth Amendment is outstripped by a defendant's right to a full legal defense as outlined by the Sixth Amendment, and called Vigil's upcoming testimony \"ripe for cross-examination.\" <\/p>\n
8th District Judge Julie Kunce Field, who will preside over the trial, ordered the District Attorney's Office to file a written motion on the matter, and will rule on the course of Vigil's testimony after Hay and defense attorney Matthew Landers file a written response. <\/p>\n
Previous motions filed by Landers included one to suppress from evidence given to the jury statements Corzo-Avendano made during his arrest and while in custody of Fort Collins police, and another to suppress phone conversations between Corzo-Avendano and Sara Mondragon while the former was in custody at the Larimer County Jail prior to the alleged stabbing assault. <\/p>\n
Defense counsel has argued that police elicited responses from Corzo-Avendano illegally, prior to reading him his Miranda rights and after he evoked his right to have counsel present. <\/p>\n
Prosecutors have not offered Corzo-Avendano a plea deal throughout the proceedings. <\/p>\n
Sam Lounsberry: 970-635-3630, slounsberry@prairiemountainmedia.com<\/a> and twitter.com\/samlounz. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Read the rest here:<\/p>\n Testimony of co-defendant contentious in upcoming Fort Collins murder trial - Loveland Reporter-Herald<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Sam Lounsberry Reporter-Herald Staff Writer Corzo-Avendano A 13-day trial is set to start Monday for Tolentino Corzo-Avendano, who has been charged with first-degree murder in the February 2016 stabbing attack in a Fort Collins home that left a woman blind in one eye and her grandmother dead. Attorneys met to discuss the course of the upcoming trial at a hearing Wednesday, and the planned testimony of a former co-defendant in the murder case became a point of contention between prosecution and defense teams. Corzo-Avendano, 27, was arrested after the reported stabbing of 26-year-old Sara Mondragon and her 61-year-old grandmother Cathy Mondragon, who died shortly after the attack Continue reading