Cañon City man to face murder charges for baby killing after court of appeals reverses ruling
CAÑON CITY, Colo. (KRDO) - William Jacobs will now face murder charges for allegedly killing 10-month-old Edward Hayes.
The Colorado Court of Appeals reinstated the murder and child abuse charges against William Jacobs on overturning a district court's dismissal, which had cited "outrageous government conduct" by former 11th Judicial District Attorney Linda Stanley. The appeals court ruled that Stanley's actions, while unethical, did not meet the stringent legal standard for dismissing a case.
On May 21, 2023, emergency services responded to a Motel 6 in Cañon City for an unresponsive 10-month-old boy, Edward Hayes. Hayes was taken to Children's Hospital Colorado, Colorado Springs, where he later died.
According to the arrest affidavit, William Jacobs was reportedly the last person to have cared for the baby when police responded. He was living with the baby’s mother, Brook Crawford, at the time, and was watching Hayes while Crawford worked.
During an interview with detectives, the affidavit stated Jacobs admitted to biting Hayes on the arm "while playing with him" and hitting Hayes’ head on a door frame while trying to make him throw up a few days earlier. He also said he disciplined Hayes in the same way he'd disciplined his dog and "demonstrated throwing his dog, but used an infant-sized doll to demonstrate lightly throwing [Hayes] onto the bed."
Jacobs was charged with first-degree murder, child abuse resulting in death, and child abuse resulting in serious bodily injury in connection with Hayes' death. District Judge Kaitlin Turner had dismissed these charges, determining that Stanley's public comments to KRDO13 Investigates' Sean Rice about Jacobs' guilt, juvenile criminal history, and lewd remarks constituted "outrageous government conduct."
The appeals court, however, emphasized that while Stanley's conduct was improper and led to her disbarment, it did not involve the creation or commission of the underlying crime, which is typically required for such a dismissal.
"Linda Stanley had nothing to do with the death of this child. What she did was outrageous. What she did was bad conduct. What she did was unethical. But it doesn't amount to something that is outrageous government conduct for the purposes of dismissal of a crime," explained Criminal Defense Attorney Jeremy Loew.
Stanley has since been disbarred for her extrajudicial statements in addition to other ethical violations.
The court clarified that ethical violations, which led to Stanley's disbarment, are distinct from conduct warranting dismissal of criminal charges.
Legal expert Jeremy Loew noted the rarity of a murder case being dismissed and then reinstated on appeal, contrasting it with cases where prosecutorial errors during trial lead to a new trial.
"Rarely do we see a situation where a case is outright dismissed. And then, the prosecution does something, and it comes back on appeal, where the person needs to be rearrested. And so, I would say this is pretty rare, as opposed to the Letecia Stauch situation, where the prosecution made a mistake during trial. And now Ms. Stauch gets a new trial. This is basically the opposite of that, where the prosecution did something, but it shouldn't have justified a dismissal. And as a result, the person has to be rearrested," shared Loew.
Loew also noted that KRDO has done everything right regarding this case.
"We have the First Amendment here. We want our news people to be doing investigations, to be going out there getting the facts, asking the hard questions, seeing if elected officials are going to make stupid comments doing the interviews. And I think KRDO is completely aboveboard on this. And, we're lucky to have people like Sean and yourself who are out there, like getting elected officials to make fools of themselves," said Loew.
Loew says District Attorney Jeffrey D. Lindsey, who felt the initial judge made an error, will now prosecute the case to the fullest extent of the law, as Stanley is no longer involved.
The appeals court concluded that while Stanley's comments may have impacted Jacobs' constitutional rights by heightening public condemnation and potentially affecting jury impartiality, mechanisms exist to mitigate these concerns. The court noted that these concerns must be addressed "at the appropriate time in the proceedings," listing several means by which a court can ensure a defendant's right to a fair trial in the face of pretrial publicity.
The Colorado Court of Appeals' order reverses the dismissal, reinstates the charges against Jacobs, and remands the case to the district court for further proceedings. Jacobs will likely be rearrested and prosecuted.
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