Suspect in Pueblo parole officer’s death makes first appearance in court

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- Wednesday afternoon, Justin Kula appeared in court for the first time since he was arrested for the death of Officer Christine Guerin Sandoval in late September.

Though it was expected Kula would hear what he is formally charged with, the prosecution said they have not filed formal charges because they are still waiting to receive reports from the Colorado Springs Police Department (CSPD).

Because the prosecution did not formally file charges, Kula's public defender asked that Kula be released from jail.

However, the judge said the prosecution has until Friday to file those charges, and both legal teams agreed to come back to court Friday morning at 8:30 for an additional hearing.

The prosecution said they will be able to file the formal charges by that 8:30 a.m. deadline.

Justin Kula was present in the courtroom for those discussions and appeared calm. Kula asked questions to his public defender and also made prolonged eye contact with multiple people in the room.

Arrest records reveal Kula's side of the story, in which he claims he fled from the scene out of fear.

In the court documents, Kula told police he was waiting to meet up with his ex-wife in front of the Veteran's Convenience Store when he was approached by the parole officers.

He told police he believed he had been set up by his ex-wife and was getting robbed. Scared and panicked, Kula said he tried to leave the scene as quickly as possible.

Arrest records show that Kula became emotional when police told him a parole officer had died from her injuries in the incident.

Within the document, officers wrote that they reviewed surveillance footage which showed Kula running over Officer Guerin Sandoval before driving away.

Kula told police, "he never wanted to hurt anyone," going on to say "he was scared and did not know the people were surrounding his vehicle."

Kula is set to appear back in court on Friday, Oct. 13 at 8:30 a.m.