Domestic violence offender now accused of murder was freed by Pueblo judge 22 days earlier
PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO) -- The decisions of Pueblo District Judge Allison Ernst are under scrutiny tonight after she allowed a man who was declared "incompetent" to remain in the Pueblo community and allegedly commit murder.
30-year-old Francisco Ruiz was arrested on March 23 after Pueblo Police say he shot 34-year-old Heather Duran in the head after a verbal dispute in their home. 13 Investigates began closely looking at Ruiz's criminal past after the arrest and the results are astonishing.
Ruiz was arrested in April 2022 on felony menacing and domestic violence charges. Arrest papers detail allegations that Ruiz was threatening a former girlfriend with multiple weapons. The former girlfriend told detectives that she feared for her life when Ruiz was making threats towards her with guns.
Ruiz's defense attorneys asked for a competency evaluation to be completed on Ruiz to inquire about his mental status before they proceeded to a potential trial. This process took many months, and during this entire time, Ruiz was out of jail on a $10,000 bond.
On February 2, 2023, the results of Ruiz's competency evaluation were in the hands of Judge Ernst. The results revealed that he was incompetent at the time of the prior crime. Court records outline that a "mental health commitment" should be ordered in the case. However, Judge Ernst allowed Ruiz to complete "outpatient restoration" in the Pueblo community and did not commit him to a mental health institution. This competency report by mental health evaluators declared Ruiz was not able to assist his attorneys in his own defense.
According to criminal defense attorney Jeremy Loew, judges across the state are being forced to order out-of-custody restoration because of a lack of beds at the state hospital in Pueblo.
"The problem that we have in Colorado is that we have a broken mental health system and we have the state hospital down in Pueblo that is overflowing," Loew said. "People are being held in jails because they can't get beds at the state hospital, and so we're not providing enough resources since we can't get the doctors, we can't get the nurses to help with the state hospital."
22 days after this hearing, Ruiz allegedly committed murder with a handgun that he was ordered by the courts to not possess because of a mandatory protection order from his felony menacing case, according to court records.
In addition to that, Ruiz had failed to appear in court for a mandatory court date on January 25, 2023. This was one week before he was declared incompetent. A warrant was issued for his arrest, which is typical for people who fail to appear at mandatory court dates. Court records reveal he failed to appear again on February 1 as well.
However, on that February 2 court date, Judge Ernst canceled the warrant and allowed Ruiz to walk out of her courtroom without being placed in the Pueblo County Jail.
"It could delay the process. Judges want to have an efficient administration of justice, and oftentimes that's best done by canceling a warrant if somebody misses one court date," Loew said. "Now, if somebody is repeatedly missing a court date, judges are unlikely to continue to cancel warrants."
13 Investigates reached out to 10th Judicial District Attorney Jeff Chostner for comment on these details. He released this statement:
"The defendant failed to appear in the felony menacing case. I suspect that a lot of your questions should be directed to Judge Ernst who allowed for this to happen. The court made the decision to release him without record from us back on 1-26-23. He failed to appear on the subsequent court date, February 1st and court entered a warrant based on failing to appear on a secured bond and no consent of surety being filed in the case. The defendant appeared on February 2nd off docket after a consent of surety was filed. Our Office emails with the victim indicate that we objected to releasing the defendant both on her behalf and on behalf of the office but the judge still ordered outpatient restoration. These are illustrative of the difficulties we have with the bench.
10th Judicial District Attorney Jeff Chostner
Our team directed a series of questions to Judge Ernst regarding Ruiz's prior case. A spokesperson for her office issued this statement:
"Judge Ernst respectfully declines the request to respond as under the Judicial Code of Conduct judges are not to publicly discuss cases."
Laura Snyder, 10th Judicial Court Executive
Ruiz remains in the Pueblo County Jail on no bond and is due back in court on April 12. He faces multiple felony charges including 1st-degree murder, felony menacing, and tampering with a deceased body.
Court records outline that Ruiz told police Duran attempted to stab him with a box cutter knife and when police arrived, they found a knife in Duran's left hand. However, upon further investigation, detectives allege Ruiz shot Duran after an argument in a home off E Abriendo Ave. Duran's family told police she was right-handed and did not have violent tendencies.
