Family of slain man expresses outrage at insanity ruling

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Family of slain man expresses outrage at insanity ruling

Defendant sent to mental health facility
Espinoza

Family of slain man expresses outrage at insanity ruling

Espinoza
The DA’s statement

“Regarding the mental health of the Defendant, I deferred heavily to the expert opinions of Dr. Ragsdale – a qualified, local professional who is routinely employed by the Courts to perform mental health, psychosexual, competency, and sanity evaluations.
“For years, our local justice system has relied on Dr. Ragsdale to provide these evaluations and in my experience, I have found them to be objective, thorough, and trustworthy; irrespective of who paid the bill. It would be a mistake to imply that Dr. Ragsdale is beholden to any agency or that his opinions are swayed by financial gain.
“In this case, Dr. Ragsdale concluded that the Defendant was insane at the time she murdered Mr. Chavez. And according to the laws of Colorado, Ms. Espinoza cannot be held legally accountable for acts committed during this period of insanity, even murder. She will however, remain institutionalized until such a time comes that she is deemed suitable for release; which may also come with a number of supervisory conditions.
“This legal conclusion however does not minimize the violent nature of the Defendant’s conduct nor does it ease the suffering felt by the Chavez family and our community. And for these reasons, our legal system is clearly ill-equipped to provide a sense of justice to the bereaved when it deals with the mentally afflicted.
“But even in the face of such a violent tragedy, we should not allow fear, prejudice, or subjectivity to control our decisions. It would be all the more catastrophic to unjustifiably sentence a woman, plagued by mental illness and unable to discern the difference between right and wrong, to a lifetime in prison. I therefore believe whole-heartedly that the difficult yet legally sound conclusion to find Ms. Espinoza not guilty by reason of insanity is a righteous one.”
District Attorney Will Furse