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Both the prosecution and the defense agree that William Bryce Sholl shot an unarmed man at Scholl’s Routt County home in January.
However, Scholl claims the shooting was in self-defense, and on Sept. 16 his attorneys filed a motion to dismiss charges of first-degree assault, menacing, two felonies, prohibited use of a weapon and a misdemeanor. .
On Oct. 24, 14th Judicial District Attorney Matt Carson filed a response in Routt County Court opposing the defendant’s motion.
Between the defendant’s motion and the DA’s response, the records paint two different pictures.
Both sides agree that 29-year-old Christopher Cotton drove drunk down a gravel driveway on Shoal’s 144-acre property — about nine miles south of Steamboat Springs — on Jan. 29 around 8:20 p.m. He got out of the vehicle lying in the snow. According to both accounts, Sholay’s wife and two daughters were inside the house.
Both accounts say Scholl pointed a handgun at Cotton and ordered him to lie on the ground. After Cotton lay on the ground for a while, he got up and Shoal shot him in the stomach. After the shooting, Scholl went back inside, locked the sliding glass door to his home, emptied his gun’s magazine, and waited for Routt County sheriff’s deputies to arrive.
Scholl’s legal representation, from the Denver-based law firm Braunstein, Hyatt, Farber and Schreck, insists their client is legally entitled to shoot Cotton under Colorado’s trespasser defense, also known as the state’s “Make My Day” law.
However, the district attorney countered that argument, stating that “the immunity afforded by CRS 18-1-704.5 is not intended to justify the use of physical force against persons who enter a dwelling by mistake or in good faith, or to encourage ‘involuntary, accidental killings.’
The district attorney contends that Cotton, who survived the shooting, trespassed on the property without knowledge and intent to harm.
Scholl’s legal defense contends that Cotton yelled at Scholl, refused to get back into the vehicle, and moved toward the residence when his arms were waved. Cotton was shot on the outdoor patio area attached to the back of the house.
Still, the district attorney says Cotton was never told to return to his car, and Scholl immediately pointed a handgun and ordered Cotton to stay outside. The prosecution also believes Scholl told Cotton he would shoot her if she did not move to the outdoor patio where the shots were eventually fired.
Because Colorado’s force of law against trespassers applies when a person trespasses on a defendant’s residence, how Cotton found himself in the yard and shot the intruder is a key factor in the case. However, under Colorado law a patio is considered part of a dwelling.
The district attorney also contends that Cotton never spoke to Scholl or anyone else at the residence in an aggressive or threatening manner. The DA’s response claims that Cotton never pointed a weapon and tried to explain his presence and reassure Scholl that he meant no harm.
Competing accounts also differ on how Cotton got to his feet just before he was shot.
“Without warning, Cotton yelled, ‘I’m not going to stay on the ground,’ got up and lunged at Mr. Scholl,” defense attorneys wrote in their motion to dismiss the charges.
But again, the district attorney describes it differently.
“Mr. Cotton was freezing in single-digit/zero-zero temperatures as he lay on the floor, where the defendant ordered him to lie down outside the defendant’s home, and approximately 90 seconds before he stood up, the defendant shot him,” the DA wrote in his response.
Defense attorneys claim the shoal deliberately targeted Cotton’s midsection to “deter and not kill.”
However, the prosecution notes that Scholl never checked Cotton for a weapon and that Scholl did not attempt to render aid after the shooting.
Both sides will present evidence in court to support their version of events.
A motion hearing is set for Nov. 15, while a pre-trial readiness conference is scheduled for Dec. 8, and possible dates for a jury trial are in late January.
Attempts to reach Carson for comment Tuesday, Nov. 1, were unsuccessful.
Attorneys for Brownstein, Hyatt, Farber and Schreck said their motion included everything they were willing to share and what they would say in court on Nov. 15.
To reach Spencer Powell, call 970-871-4229 or email spowell@SteamboatPilot.com
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