Cañon City man gets new trial for 2015 attempted murder of his wife

FREMONT COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) -- A new trial will take place in Fremont County following this week's Colorado Court of Appeals decision that a Cañon City man's Miranda Rights were violated during an interrogation. That interrogation was later played in front of a jury.

Steven Whitt, 59, was convicted of attempted murder and assault in 2017 after his wife told deputies from a hospital bed that Whitt tried to kill her in 2015. She told deputies that he said things like, "just die already," as he choked and suffocated her. Deputies noted in court documents that the woman was bruised and bleeding from her head, face, neck, hands, shoulders, and arms.

Later, deputies noticed cuts and scratches on Whitt when they tried to ask him what happened. He told them that he watched his wife drive her car through a gate and take off, saying he didn't know what happened.

When deputies initially took him into custody, they read him his Miranda Rights. At that time, Whitt said he understood his rights and elected not to speak with deputies.

When different detectives questioned Whitt the following day, however, they did not re-read his Miranda Rights. They just asked if he had already been read those rights and if he remembered them, he answered yes to both questions. Detectives then told him those rights are still in effect, but did not ask explicitly whether he willing to speak with him after telling deputies he didn't want to speak the night prior. Deputies also didn't ask Whitt if he wanted to waive his Miranda Rights before speaking with them. The Colorado Court of Appeals found that to be a clear violation of his rights.

Whitt spoke with detectives for roughly two hours in that interview before asking for an attorney. Court documents allege that he spent most of that interview "demeaning his wife", calling her "a pissed off little girl" and saying she was "out of control."

That interview was not only played at trial, but a written transcript of the interview was given to the jury during deliberation after Whitt asked the video of that interview to be suppressed. A district court judge orally denied his motion to suppress the interview and said the court would issue an order detailing why, but the Court of Appeals said the district court never issued that order.

One of the arguments made that Whitt's rights were not violated is that he was trained as a law enforcement officer and had work experience in a county sheriff's office, a jail setting, and the department of corrections, meaning he would fully understand his rights without them being read to him, but the argument wasn't strong enough to persuade Colorado's second-highest court.

The Court of Appeals released that the recorded interview should've been suppressed from the jury as it was conducted in violation of Whitt's rights, prompting their decision to grant Whitt a new trial.

The jury convicted Whitt on attempted murder and assault charges in 2017, with a judge sentencing Whitt to 32 years in prison. He was also convicted of sexual assault on a child while in a position of trust and witness tampering later that year, the Court of Appeals opinion briefly mentions this separate conviction and lists the victim as someone in Whitt's immediate family.

Fremont County Sheriff Allen Cooper told KRDO Friday that none of the deputies involved in the interview in question are still working with the Sheriff's Office, saying they all left before Sheriff Cooper took office.

Lauretta A. Martin Neff is representing Whitt and declined to comment on the decision.

KRDO also attempted to reach 11th Judicial District Attorney Linda Stanley about the decision, but we have not heard back.

Whitt's new trial has yet to be scheduled.